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Sun fireball causing mobile chaos
By Robin Yapp, Daily Mail Last updated at 00:00am on 28.10.03A giant fireball hurtling towards Earth threatens to bring chaos to mobile phone networks, power grids and aircraft communications.
The vast cloud of gas - which with a temperature of 1.8million degrees fahrenheit is more powerful than a billion hydrogen bombs - will hit our planet's atmosphere some time this morning.
There is no chance of it connecting with the Earth's surface or endangering mankind.
But the effect of it bouncing off our planet's magnetic field will create a 'geomagnetic storm' with the power to disable the National Grid.
It could also interfere with radio signals used in satellite navigational systems and telecommunications networks, affecting airline communications equipment and mobile phone networks.
Scientists photographed the fireball erupting from the Sun on Sunday morning.
Travelling at up to two million miles per hour, it will take about two days to reach Earth's magnetic field, which stretches 40,000 miles towards the Sun.
Scientists say the gas cloud - officially known as a coronal mass ejection - is part of a flurry of activity from the sun's surface which is expected to make the geomagnetic storm in the Earth's atmosphere last for a fortnight.
Effects are already being felt from two fireballs which were detected by NASA scientists leaving the Sun's surface and heading Earthwards last Wednesday and Thursday.
Since Saturday, climbers on Mount Everest have experienced interference with their radio equipment and have had trouble sending data via satellite.
High-frequency airline communication systems were also hit, although experts say back-up systems at airports meant taking off and landing were not affected.
The Global Positioning System technology used by the U. S. military and in many civilian cars has also been affected.
The latest fireball is around 30 times as high as the Earth, 30 times as wide and 30 times as deep, giving it 37,000 times the total volume of our planet.
British space expert Dr Mike Hapgood said coronal mass ejections happen 'once or twice a day' but only occasionally head in our direction.
They occur when magnetic fields in 'sun spots' - dark regions on the surface which are 3,000f cooler than the rest of the Sun - become twisted and erupt.
Dr Hapgood said: 'We have had a series of several large clouds of gas come our way in the past few days. When one hits Earth's magnetic field, the two fields interact and join and a lot of energy comes into the earth's atmosphere.
'When the air becomes turbulent, navigation equipment cannot lock on to the signal properly. It can also effect satellites that link mobile phone networks together.
' It is a bit like seeing stars twinkling in the sky. The light from the stars twinkles because of the interference of turbulence in the atmosphere.'
Dr Hapgood, a researcher at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, said electric currents were produced which could cause power grids to overheat or unbalance.
'In Canada in 1989, the whole national grid collapsed,' he warned.
Power companies in the UK have been made aware of the situation.
The fireballs can create beautiful light displays in the night sky. These may be seen over Cornwall in the coming days.
Coronal mass ejections were first observed in the 1970s but at present scientists cannot predict when they will head for Earth or how serious they will be.
