Earth’s atmosphere isn’t the only place with stormy weather. Astronomers say space has its own weather system – controlled by the sun – and this weather can generate storms capable of damaging electronics on or around Earth. The storms start as dark sunspots that appear on the sun’s surface (called the photosphere). These cool spots generate intense fields of magnetic forces thousands of times more powerful than those generated on Earth. Sometimes, during the most active part of the solar flare – sending radiation and charged particles toward Earth.
Our atmosphere and magnetic field shield us from all but the strongest of these storms of charged particles, but occasionally a flare is strong enough to disrupt the electronics in communication and navigation satellites and damage devices here on Earth. A massive solar storm in 1859 knocked out telegraph machines (the simple communication devices used before the invention of the telephone) across the U.S. and Europe. Some telegraph operators even reported getting zapped by their devices!
Picture Credit : Google
