Solar flare blasts radiation storm toward Earth

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57364089-76/solar-flare-blasts-radiation-storm-toward-earth/

By Martin LaMonica
Cutting Edge
CNet News
January 23, 2012

A fastball of high-energy matter from the Sun is blasting toward the 
Earth and is expected to cause the largest solar radiation storm since 
2005.

Late last night, a solar flare caused a coronal mass ejection, or the 
release of a burst of charged particles, from the sun's atmosphere, and 
it's heading toward the Earth at 1,400 miles per second, according to 
NASA.

The concern is that a magnetic storm from the solar flare could affect 
GPS systems and some communications systems, especially in higher 
altitudes in the north. NASA estimates that the storm could reach the 
Earth's magnetic field as early as tomorrow morning Eastern Time.

"With the radiation storm in progress now, satellite operators could be 
experiencing trouble, and there are probably impacts as well to high 
frequency [radio] communications in polar regions," Doug Biesecker, a 
physicist at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told the Washington 
Post

[...]


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