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Duck! There's a solar storm going on

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RE: Duck! There's a solar storm going on
boomchuck1 Updated - 24th Jan
@RelaxWalk Kill a satellite?

You betcha. A couple different ways this could happen. 1. Radiation could fry the circuitry of the satellite. It's pretty strong stuff and in the 80's was strong enough to fry electrical substations in Canada. Astronauts in the ISS have to retreat to shielded areas to get some protection from the radiation. Our atmosphere blocks most of this, though it can pour down through the magnetic lines at the poles, so except in the extreme cases (and they do happen - see 1859) the radiation won't have much impact on us here on earth. 2. The solar storm will inflate the earth's atmosphere causing greater drag on low earth orbit satellites. That will affect their orbit and could eventually cause them to deorbit - crash.

Despite that this solar storm is still in the M class, just short of the X class storms that we can expect to see as the sun nears Solar Max in its 11 year cycle.

Visit http://www.spaceweather.com to keep up to date on what the sun is doing.
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