A coronal mass ejection (CME) was detected Monday (July 24), and it reportedly moved so fast that it hit Europe's spacecraft Solo Orbiter (SolO). Usually, it would take days for the solar plasma to reach the SolO, but, at the time, it wasn't the case.
CME Hits SolO Orbiter
A massive explosion on the sun's far side collided with Solar Orbiter. It was so strong that it could have triggered powerful geomagnetic storms had it reached the Earth, Newsweek reported.
The sun released the CME Monday, reaching the spacecraft 32 hours later. Since CMEs typically take two to three days to get the SolO craft, this CME was strong and traveled quickly.
The CME's halo was seen in images taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite as it encircled the sun and was estimated to be moving at 3.4 million miles per hour.
According to George Ho of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, co-principal investigator for the Energetic Particle Detector suite onboard Solar Orbiter, it was unquestionably a significant occurrence. As soon as the initial explosion occurred, Ho analyzed the data and noticed a 10,000-fold increase in 50 MeV ions hitting the spacecraft. It was reportedly a sign of an approaching interplanetary shock, per Spaceweather.
He explained a figure that showed two waves of energetic particles sweeping over the Solar Orbiter.
The CME was started by some unseen explosion, which accelerated the first wave (yellow). Soon after the explosion, these particles, moving nearly at the speed of light, reached the spaceship. Following the CME, a second wave (blue) struck the spacecraft more than 30 hours later.
Ho continued that this kind of shock-driven particle increased with the arrival of the CME, which caused the 1989 Quebec blackout.
What Happened During the Quebec Blackout
Quebec Blackout happened in 1989 after a massive solar plasma hit Earth. It was so powerful that it brought a strong geomagnetic storm. It was dubbed "the day the sun brought darkness" because it resulted in hundreds of blackouts in various parts of North America and Quebec, Canada.
On March 13, 1989, at 2: 44 a.m., a highly severe magnetic disturbance was observed in the city, disrupting the electrical currents. Quebec's power grid lost electricity in less than two minutes after the solar plasma. Millions of people were trapped in dark offices, underground pedestrian tunnels, and elevators. The blackout lasted for 12 hours.
The incident also affected the United States. Fortunately, the country possessed just about enough power at the moment. There were more than 200 power grid problems from coast to coast. The good news is that none of these caused a blackout.
Quebec had learned from the event. Engineer Louis Gibson of Hydro Quebec claims that the solar storm event had the greatest impact on its power utility. They needed to take the problem seriously, and it acted as a wake-up call with them upgrading the city's power system to avoid the same incident.
The Quebec Blackout 1989 highlights how space weather might impact our power grid.
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