A massive solar flare erupted from the sun on Tuesday, sending a solar storm towards that Earth at an impressive four million miles per hour. Radiation from that storm has the potential to knock out power grids, and disrupt satellites and radio communications.
"We're undergoing a mild solar storm right now and you can't tell but this one happens to be particularly large," says Calusa Planetarium director Carole Holmberg.
Astronomers believe this is the largest solar flare to affect Earth in over five years.
"It certainly can affect power grids and I know that some plane routes particularly close to the poles are being rerouted and it may affect GPS units," Holmberg says.
While solar flares don't cause harm to humans, cell phones, radio and TV could be put out of commission if the storm is as powerful as some predict.
The flare may be strong enough to divert flights near the poles but NASA is not making any preparations as it approaches Earth's magnetic field.
"NASA is not concerned about the astronauts on the International Space Station," Holmberg says.
Experts say most disruption on Earth, if any, will happen near the poles, so how worried should Southwest Florida be?
"Minimal to none," says Holmberg.
The most noticeable effects should arrive between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. EST Wednesday.
We take all of the elements of our stories seriously. Please tell us about any errors you find in our stories. If you're looking to comment on a story you've seen, email that to firstname.lastname@example.org.More >>
We take all of the elements of our stories seriously. Please tell us about any errors you find. Copy the page address above before clicking on this link to fill out the form. If you're looking to comment on a story you've seen or read, email that to email@example.com.More >>
3719 Central Avenue Fort Myers, FL 33901
Main Phone: (239) 939-2020 Newsroom Phone: (239) 939-6223