Lewis Andrews

CME visualises the eruptions seen catapulting vast amounts of material from the sun’s surface into deep space. Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) occur when the magnetic fields of the sun, and other stars, have immense energy stored within them. When the magnetic field lines of the sun get tangled up a little under certain conditions they can in essence snap. A multi-planetary-sized short circuit has occurred. As a result, all of this energy stored within the line then erupts outwards. They are very similar to solar flares, however, they occur higher off the surface of the sun than a solar flare and are vastly more powerful. CMEs carry large amounts of material from the sun’s surface with them into interplanetary space. Millions of Billions of tons of plasma are ripped away from the Sun’s atmosphere and hurled through the solar system. At this point, they become known as ICME (Interplanetary coronal mass ejection). 

 

ICMEs have more than enough power to cross the interplanetary space between the Sun and Earth and collide with our magnetosphere with ease. When this happens, You and I physically are not affected unless you want to count the feast your eyes have on the energetic particles being diverted to the poles resulting in the creation of Auroras. However, an especially powerful CME can catapult enough material and, if aligned correctly, the CME’s magnetic field merges with the Earth’s magnetic field until at which point it overloads, snaps and with explosive power launches energy back at Earth. Known as a ‘Geomagnetic Storm’, You and I once again are not physically affected. However, with all our electronics covering the globe, it can induce currents in the power grid and either shut it down or destroy the transformers running it. In 1989, the Quebec power grid failed after being hit by a strong solar storm. In 1859, a high energy CME occurred in what has become known as ‘The Carrington Event’. Large Auroras appeared as far south as the Caribbean and telegraph systems worldwide failed, shocking operators and sparking. The Sun is the dominant force of the solar system. It gives heat and life-giving light. Don't be fooled though, it can be very violent.