Carrington Event Redux

The Carrington Event named after “Richard Carrington” a British astronomer who documented it, was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong aurora displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations at the time.

If a Carrington-sized solar flare was to hit Earth today, it would emit X-rays and ultraviolet light, which would reach Earth's atmosphere and interfere with electronics, radio and satellite signals. Our power grids would likely go down, upending many technologies essential to our daily lives. GPS air, sea and land systems would be rendered useless, as satellites would be shorted out.

The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of “solar max” will be behind us, with half yet to come.

Multiple solar flares and solar filament eruptions were observed from 21-23 Jan, 2024. The associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were analyzed and modelled.

The Sun emitted two strong solar flares, the first one peaking at 6:07 p.m. EST on Feb. 21, 2024, and the second peaking at 1:32 a.m. EST on Feb. 22, 2024. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

Nearly two decades after scientists lost track of a 54-million-ton asteroid, NASA has put an end to any possibility of its collision with Earth. A November 2023 report claimed that the 2007 FT3, or the “lost asteroid”, may hit our planet in 2024. However, the US space agency has refuted such claims.

Meanwhile, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) estimates that a “Solar Maximum” could occur between late 2024 and early 2026.

For the past eight months, activity on the sun has steadily increased, indicating we transitioned to Solar Cycle 25. Solar Cycle 25 is forecast to be a fairly weak cycle, the same strength as cycle 24. Solar maximum is expected by July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots.

Scientists and Astronomers do not see Asteroids hitting the moon because an asteroid or meteor is more likely to fall toward Earth than the moon because our planet's stronger gravity attracts more Asteroids, Meteors, and space debris.

Mars and the Moon both lack a magnetic field. This means charged solar particles can strike their surfaces more often than on Earth. With a very thin and weak atmosphere, called “exosphere” on the moon, it does not provide any protection from the Sun's radiation or impacts from meteoroids.

NASA has actively monitored lunar impacts since 2005, tracking hundreds of candidate events, and contends that if a large asteroid was to impact the Moon, it would create a large crater that would eject a lot of material from the surface, but that would be the extent of the damage.

Although, the moon's mass is 7.35 x 1022 kg, about 1.2% of Earth's mass. Put another way, Earth weighs 81 times more than the moon. The moon's density is 3.34 grams per cubic centimeter (3.34 g/cm3). That is about 60% of Earth's density.

So, as our moon is in freefall in orbit, so it doesn't weigh anything. That could make it vulnerable to being knocked-off, doesn’t it? If it was placed on the surface of the Earth, it would weigh about 7.3476 × 10^22 kilograms—but only for a moment, then it would ostensibly collapse under its own weight.

Earth's Moon is the brightest and largest object in our night sky. The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.

Life as we know it wouldn't be able to survive. If the moon disappeared, the length of a day on Earth would become much shorter. If the moon got split into 2 moons, tides could be either smaller or higher and there could be more than two high tides per day. If the gravitational influence of a second moon were extreme, it could lead to phenomenally huge ocean tides (up to a kilometer high) which would also result in frequent tsunamis.

It is the pull of the Moon's gravity on the Earth that holds our planet in place. Without the Moon stabilizing our tilt, it is possible that the Earth's tilt could vary wildly. It would move from no tilt (which means no seasons) to a large tilt (which means extreme weather and even ice ages).

NASA stresses that there aren't any asteroids large enough to split the Moon apart or knock it off its orbit around the Earth… but what if there was one, are we prepared?

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Food for thought!

For more watch: Sun’s Magnetic Field is About to Flip, and There’s a Problem