These auroral currents, called the auroral electrojets, also produce large magnetic disturbances. Together, all of these currents, and the magnetic deviations they produce on the ground, are used to generate a planetary geomagnetic disturbance index called Kp.
During storms, the currents in the ionosphere, as well as the energetic particles that precipitate into the ionosphere add energy in the form of heat that can increase the density and distribution of density in the upper atmosphere, causing extra drag on satellites in low-earth orbit.
The local heating also creates strong horizontal variations in the in the ionospheric density that can modify the path of radio signals and create errors in the positioning information provided by GPS. While the storms create beautiful aurora, they also can disrupt navigation systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System GNSS and create harmful geomagnetic induced currents GICs in the power grid and pipelines.
Skip to main content. Every now and then, a solar flare will erupt from the Sun and send a small ripple toward Earth's magnetic field. A phenomenon related to flares called coronal mass ejections causes highly energetic eruptions from the Sun, providing the main source of major space weather events. These eruptions are essentially giant bubbles of gas and magnetic flux carrying up to a billion tons of charged particles, traveling at speeds of several million miles per hour.
These clouds, and the shock waves they cause, occasionally reach Earth and cause geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms are major disturbances of Earth's magnetosphere — the space surrounding our planet governed by our magnetic field.
One of the last geomagnetic storms that had a major impact on Earth took place on August 7, A massive solar flare erupted from the Sun's surface, disrupting radio waves, telecommunication networks, and power systems by triggering an intense magnetic storm.
It was a C3-class solar flare, which is considered a minor solar flare with little to no effects on Earth. Much of that is because scientists are still working to understand how the sun actually works. NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the European-American Solar Orbiter missions are producing data that will help scientists tackle those unknowns, but they don't make forecasting any easier right now, Murtagh noted. Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels space. Follow us on Twitter Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space. Meghan is a senior writer at Space. She joined Space. Meghan earned an MA in science journalism from New York University and a BA in classics from Georgetown University, and in her free time she enjoys reading and visiting museums.
Follow her on Twitter at meghanbartels. The sun is waking up — and making sure we all know it.
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