Differences

This shows you the differences between the selected revision and the current version of the page.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+**I've read about the recent very large "solar storm" and would like to
+know what kinds of damage can be experienced by the many satellites in
+ orbit around the earth. Are some types of satellite more likely to be
+ damaged than others- ie communication vs optical like Hubble.
+**
+----
+Solar storms can be energetic particles from the sun, disturbed regions of
+magnetic fields, large amounts of x-rays and radio waves from the sun, or
+combinations of these. Normally, Earth's magnetic field is strong enough
+that most satellites, even the weather satellites (which are in
+geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles away) are within the magnetic field and
+therefore protected from most of the cosmic rays.
+However, when a magnetic storm passes the Earth, Earth's magnetic controll
+shrinks. Often satellites in higher orbits (especially geosynchronous
+orbits) and orbits that cross Earth's poles can end up outside of Earth's
+magnetosphere, and these satellites are then exposed to damaging cosmic
+rays. Satellites in low orbits (like the space station, space shuttle,
+Hubble, etc.) are generally still protected.
+The solar storm you heard about also featured a "proton event," where
+high-energy protons from the sun stream toward the Earth. These protons
+have enough energy to penetrate Earth's magnetic field, and so all
+satellites are in danger from these storms. The worst danger is for
+spacewalking astronauts, who would receive very high (perhaps dangerously
+high) levels of radiation. Astronauts onboard the space shuttle and the
+space station are usually protected from these storms by special
+shielding.
+You can read more about solar storms, and especially about currently
+active storms, from the Space Environment Center:
+http://www.sel.noaa.gov/
+Thanks for writing!
+Sincerely,
+Kurtis Williams

what_kind_of_damage_do_solar_storms_cause_to_satellites.txt · Last modified: 2009/02/02 13:19 by czars · [Old revisions]