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Space Weather

Space weather refers to conditions within the solar system that can impact Earth. It includes the solar wind and charged particles interacting with Earth's magnetic fields, which can disrupt power grids, navigation systems like GPS, and communication. Major space weather events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections send energetic particles that damage satellites and produce the northern and southern lights by exciting gases in the upper atmosphere.

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Loo Rui Hung
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12 views7 pages

Space Weather

Space weather refers to conditions within the solar system that can impact Earth. It includes the solar wind and charged particles interacting with Earth's magnetic fields, which can disrupt power grids, navigation systems like GPS, and communication. Major space weather events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections send energetic particles that damage satellites and produce the northern and southern lights by exciting gases in the upper atmosphere.

Uploaded by

Loo Rui Hung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Space weather

A Prickled Rose
What’s space weather?
• Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or
heliophysics, concerned with the time varying conditions within the
Solar System, including the solar wind, emphasizing the space
surrounding the Earth, including conditions in the magnetosphere,
ionosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
Electrical supply
• Space weather can produce electromagnetic fields that induce
extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, and even
causing widespread power outages
Compasses
• When the material collides with the Earth's magnetic field and
trapped radiation belts, it can dump particles into our upper
atmosphere to cause the Aurora. The same 'charged' particles can
produce their own magnetic fields which can modify the Earth's
magnetic field and affect compass readings
Satnav
• Space weather can change the density structure of the ionosphere by
creating areas of enhanced density. This modification of the
ionosphere makes GPS less accurate and can even lead to a complete
loss of the signal because the ionosphere can act as a lens or a mirror
to radio waves traveling through it
Telecommunication
• Solar flares can produce strong x-rays that degrade or block
high-frequency radio waves used for radio communication
during events known as Radio Blackout Storms. Solar Energetic
Particles (energetic protons) can penetrate satellite electronics
and cause electrical failure.
Aurora borealis and Aurora Australis
• Auroras are the result of disturbances in
the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major
disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the
solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections.
These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in
the magnetospheric plasma.

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