May Solar Superstorm Caused Largest 'Mass Migration' of Satellites In History (space.com) 16
A solar superstorm in May caused thousands of satellites to simultaneously maneuver to maintain altitude due to the thickening of the upper atmosphere, creating potential collision hazards as existing prediction systems struggled to cope. Space.com reports: According to a pre-print paper published on the online repository arXiv on June 12, satellites and space debris objects in low Earth orbit -- the region of space up to an altitude of 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) -- were sinking toward the planet at the speed of 590 feet (180 meters) per day during the four-day storm. To make up for the loss of altitude, thousands of spacecraft began firing their thrusters at the same time to climb back up. That mass movement, the authors of the paper point out, could have led to dangerous situations because collision avoidance systems didn't have time to calculate the satellites' changing paths.
The solar storm that battered Earth from May 7 to 10 reached the intensity of G5, the highest level on the five-step scale used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the strength of solar storms. It was the strongest solar storm to hit Earth since 2003. The authors of the paper, however, pointed out that the environment around the planet has changed profoundly since that time. While only a few hundred satellites were orbiting Earth twenty years ago, there are thousands today. The authors of the paper put the number of "active payloads at [low Earth orbit]" at 10,000. [...] The new paper points out that space weather forecasts ahead of the May storm failed to accurately predict the duration and intensity of the event, making satellite collision predictions nearly impossible.
On the upside, the storm helped to clear out some junk as defunct satellites and debris fragments spiraled deeper into the atmosphere. The authors of the report estimate that thousands of space debris objects lost several kilometers in altitude during the storm. More powerful solar storms can be expected in the coming months as the peak of the current solar cycle -- the 11-year ebb and flow in the number of sunspots, solar flares and eruptions -- is expected in late 2024 and early 2025. The paper can be found here.
The solar storm that battered Earth from May 7 to 10 reached the intensity of G5, the highest level on the five-step scale used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the strength of solar storms. It was the strongest solar storm to hit Earth since 2003. The authors of the paper, however, pointed out that the environment around the planet has changed profoundly since that time. While only a few hundred satellites were orbiting Earth twenty years ago, there are thousands today. The authors of the paper put the number of "active payloads at [low Earth orbit]" at 10,000. [...] The new paper points out that space weather forecasts ahead of the May storm failed to accurately predict the duration and intensity of the event, making satellite collision predictions nearly impossible.
On the upside, the storm helped to clear out some junk as defunct satellites and debris fragments spiraled deeper into the atmosphere. The authors of the report estimate that thousands of space debris objects lost several kilometers in altitude during the storm. More powerful solar storms can be expected in the coming months as the peak of the current solar cycle -- the 11-year ebb and flow in the number of sunspots, solar flares and eruptions -- is expected in late 2024 and early 2025. The paper can be found here.
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I have no idea if what follows is valid or makes any sense but since I heard of space sails, couldn't the particles have affected the satellites directly as well when hitting them while they were on the side of planet Earth exposed to the Sun thus bringing them closer to Earth?
When in darkness, the planet would have shielded them for the particles so the effects wouldn't have cancelled each other. Just an idea, it might have but to a negligible extend. I guess I am just curious.
Re:thickening of the upper atmosphere? (Score:4, Interesting)
Solar radiation pressure at Earth is on the order of single-digit micropascals. Suppose the pressure of particles from the solar storm is 3 orders of magnitude greater than the radiation pressure. Based on a mean mass of a LEO satellite of 370 kg, and a mean cross-sectional area of 6.2 m^2 (data from ESO in 2022), the acceleration experienced (pressure * area / mass) would be on the order of 100 um/s^2 *. Possibly measurable, but very close to negligible. Solar sails require stupendous cross-sectional area.
* Apparently /.'s whitelisting of HTML entities doesn't allow μ for micro-.
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Thanks!
If we take a micropascal and half the surface of the Earth (let's pretend all particles hit perpendicularly) :
0.000001*2.05*10^14
205000000.00000000
That would be 205,000,000 Newtons or about 46,000,000 pounds constantly pushing the Earth away from the Sun. So, I assume the Earth is going slower than it would around the Sun than if that force wasn't there given its orbit trajectory otherwise, we'd eventually go explore deep space. I never thought of that!
Thanks for your reply, I am only having fun thi
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Was it not voyager than had to compensate for the solar flux because it was pushing it away from its course slightly ?
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It is the numerical contribution in part. The point of a magnetic storm is the sea of charged particles impinging on the atmosphere effects the Earth's magnetic field. Less charged particles, less effect. Anyhow, that disruption causes the charged particles to plunge deeper into the atmosphere where they interact with air. That heats the air and puffs up the atmosphere to that it reaches farther out into space. The atmosphere does not have a boundary with space, rather is it a gradient, and this effects shi
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I thought from first hand observations that there was a correlation between solar flares/whatever you want to call the solar stuff that hits the earth and the temperature. There's a big solar flare coming, the forecast is for a hot day the day it gets here, you go outside the day it gets here and the sun feels hotter than normal on your bare skin. Yet they say the solar flares don't affect the weather? Seems like BS to me. The solar flare heats up the atmosphere, but that doesn't affect the temperature of t
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Tracking the junk (Score:2)
Maybe this is the solution to the Kessler syndrome (Score:2)
On the upside, the storm helped to clear out some junk as defunct satellites and debris fragments spiraled deeper into the atmosphere.
You just get the old defunct satellites and tow them outside the environment [youtube.com].
Hell no! (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, great! Just what we needed—more surveillance birds cluttering up our precious sky. As if we don’t already have enough issues down here on Earth, now we’re being inundated by these satellites. Anyone actually believe this dopey "solar storm" theory? Give me a break! We're supposed to believe it's just a coincidence these satellites can now get a better view into Earth? And I'll tell you who is behind all of this. It's those little green toad-looking motherfuckers. The Martians! This who
I thought mass migration was a good thing? (Score:2)