The storm started with a massive solar flare earlier in the week and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. When it strikes.
The particles will be moving at 4 million mph."It's hitting us right in the nose," said
Joe Kunches, a scientist for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration in Boulder, Colo.
The massive cloud of charged particles
could disrupt utility grids, airline
flights, satellite networks and GPS
services, especially in northern areas.
But the same blast could also paint
colorful auroras farther from the
poles than normal.
Astronomers say the sun has been
relatively quiet for some time. And this
storm, while strong, may seem fiercer
because Earth has been lulled by
several years of weak solar activity.
The storm is part of the sun's normal
11-year cycle, which is supposed to
reach peak storminess next year.
Solar storms don't harm people, but
they do disrupt technology. And
during the last peak around 2002,
experts learned that GPS was
vulnerable to solar outbursts.
Because new technology has
flourished since then, scientists could
discover that some new systems are
also at risk, said Jeffrey Hughes,
director of the Center for Integrated
Space Weather Modeling at Boston
University.
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