(Above: A still shot of the solar flare. Image: NASA/SDO/AIA)
The geomagnetic storm, caused by two massive solar flares on the sun earlier this week, has impacted South Africa today in the form of some disturbance to cell phone and Internet connectivity.
Newswatch has touched base with SA National Space Agency research physicist Dr Pierre Cilliers, who says the storm is on-going.
But Cilliers has described the impact as "minor" so far. He has explained that all areas of the earth experienced - and will experience - similar disruptions when they are sun facing.
Spaceweather.com confirmed that a coronal mass ejection (CME) - or fall-out from the solar flare - hit Earth's magnetic field on March 8 at around 1pm our time.
According to Nasa: "As magnetic fields from the CMEs connected up to the magnetosphere [earth's magnetic environment], instruments on Earth began to measure changes in our planet's magnetic fields – indicating the onset of a geomagnetic storm. At the time of writing this was still a minor storm, rated a G1 on a scale of G1 to G5. There will be updates as needed if the rating increases."
Sapceweather.com says "high-latitude sky watchers" should be on alert for auroras, or northern lights.
However, Cilliers says it's highly unlikely that SA residents will be able to catch a glimpse.
He says during a major storm the latitude of the aurora - which is usually limited to the poles - does come closer to the equator.
In 2003, for instance, Cape Town - which is 33 degrees south of the equator - was treated to a show but he feels it's unlikely it will be repeated this time. "It's not impossible, but it's unlikely," he said.
- East Coast Radio
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