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From hurricanes to solar storms, weather in space has the potential to cause havoc on Earth so the European Space Agency (Esa) is planning a space-weather satellite to act like an interstellar forecaster.
In 2023, Esa will send a probe to a gravitationally stable point in space, known as Langrage 5 (L5), where it will study streams of charged particles heading towards Earth. Other probes currently face the Sun, at Larange 1 (L1), so the new positioning would offer an alternative view of the star's surface and let scientists measure the speed of solar eruptions more precisely. It will be the first Esa mission aimed at forecasting space weather.
Read more: How to survive a solar storm
Solar storms, or coronal mass ejections (CME), can have an adverse effect on satellites across the Earth. A recent study, co-authored by researchers from the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at University of Cambridge, predicted solar storms could cause massive blackouts across the US and cost up to $41.5 billion a day due to the economic costs of disruption.
Juha-Pekka Luntama, head of Esa’s space-weather team, told Nature the space weather phenomenon was “a little like a tornado warning in the US – you can’t tell exactly when it’s going to happen or where, but you can give a warning there’s an increased probability of dangerous conditions.”
Probes at L1 can forecast warnings of solar storms once a ball of plasma is released into space, giving astronomers around 15 hours warning. This isn’t enough time to warn power grid operators. A probe at L5, however, would see the Sun’s rotating surface four or five days before L1, meaning scientists would be able to raise an early alarm that a severe space-weather event is likely to happen.
Scientists will combine data from L1 probes with the data from L5 to track sunspots on the star and study how sunspots erupt to give more warning.
This will be particularly crucial when humans explore space. Dr Miho Janvier, astrophysicist at the Institute of Space Astrophysics, South Paris University, spoke at WIRED2016 about how solar flares and storms in space will hold back humanity’s interstellar explorations. “If we’re going to get to Mars with the likes of Elon Musk, understanding how space weather can impact satellites and rockets is key to planning those missions,” she said.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
