If you are a motorist who relies on a GPS device to navigate and you find yourself up the wrong street, it might just be the sun’s fault.
If you are a motorist who relies on a GPS device to navigate and you find yourself up the wrong street, it might just be the sun’s fault.
This may sound strange, but it’s true. The powerful explosions from solar flares could render GPS readings inaccurate by as much as 1km.
Flares are “very energetic eruptions from the surface of the sun” says Kobus Olckers, the space weather officer at the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO) in the Western Cape.
Imagine the sun as “a cauldron of hydrogen bomb-like explosions going off continuously with the energy of millions of Hiroshima-like explosions continuing for billions of years,” says Olckers. These explosions- coupled with the sun’s rotation- causes areas of very hot plasma and highly concentrated magnetic fields on the sun’s surface.
This solar surface then flares up at speeds of up to 1 400km/h and emits x-rays at “extremely high energies,” says Olckers. These coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can affect different systems on Earth.
The Physics Department at Rhodes University and the HMO have a close relationship, particularly postgraduate students who research Space Weather and Ionospheric Physics at the HMO. Their degrees are registered with Rhodes but much of the work is done at the HMO.
Earth is affected by these flares in different ways. Communication systems like GPS devices and radio waves can malfunction due to the flares. GPS devices can give inaccurate readings, however this only happens during very large flares. Flying in aeroplanes during solar eruptions might not be too safe either. Airlines that fly along the polar routes, like Canada to Asia, or New Zealand to South America can experience large amounts of radiation.
Solar cycles work on an average 11 year cycle, with the large flares occurring after the solar maximum at the peak of the cycle. The earth is currently in an extended minimum period which requires the HMO and other solar weather organisations to "keep a beady eye on the sun, 24/7," says Olckers. The next solar maximum is expected after 2013.
