• Question: is there a connection between space weather and Earth weather?

    Asked by FelicityP to Helen, Hugh, Julian on 20 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 20 Nov 2014:

      There is a connection, but not a strong one really.
      Space weather doesn’t cause storms, or hurricanes, or things like that – its a bit more subtle.
      It does cause aurora displays though, and in extreme cases the space weather can generate electric currents in things – line power lines, and long oil pipelines. So some industries need to keep an eye on it, power and gas companies mostly.
      Of course satellites and astronauts are the ones who have to worry about it the most, as space weather can wreck satellites delicate circuits. It’s not too good for astronauts either, but luckily they are mostly shielded by the Earths magnetic field.

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      The Sun’s activity goes in a cycle of 11 years, and at times of peak activity it will have many more sunspots and what we called ‘solar flares’ or ‘coronal mass ejections’. These are associated with lots of high energy particles being ejected from the surface of the Sun, sometimes towards the Earth! As Julian mentioned, this can really mess with electrical power supplies, both on Earth and in space. The most famous example is probably the 1989 blackout, when the whole of Quebec, Canada, lost power. (http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/sun_darkness.html) Solar storms like this one are accompanied by really spectacular aurora though!

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