reply to post by brokenheadphonez
Actually, the charged particles aren't really hitting the Earth, they are hitting the magnetosphere very far from the Earth. The magnetosphere then
redirects the particles to the poles where they can interact with the upper atmosphere (higher than 50km) and produce aurora.
The speed and temperature of the solar wind made a jump a few days ago as a result of a hole in the Sun's corona which was aimed in our direction
around the 20th of the month. There were also a couple of sunspots which appeared on the 22nd. This would also contribute to maintaining the increase.
Both speed and temperature have been declining since they peaked but the effects of another coronal hole on the 24th could the the cause of the jump
you noticed today.
www.swpc.noaa.gov...
The peak on the 25th was not particularly impressive, reaching speeds of only about 500 km/s. A really good blast from a coronal hole can get as high
800 km/s. A CME (coronal mass ejection) can produce velocities of over 1,500 km/s. This was just a little burp. But there is not much agreement on the
relationship between the velocity of the solar wind and geomagnetic storms which are caused by interactions of various factors within the solar wind
and the Earth's magnetic field. It takes more than a fast solar wind to produce a magnetic storm.
www.spacew.com...
So while we
are our way toward the next maximum, what we are seeing right now is really no big deal. The current cycle is predicted to peak in
may of 2013 and is predicted to have less activity than average. But as yet there is no way to predict the intensity of that activity. It could be
relatively quiet or it could be bad.
science.nasa.gov...
as we just started the new cycle
