Skywatch media news for July 31, 2019 here's what's happening
a massive coronal hole has formed in the upper atmosphere of the Sun which will
head directly towards Earth on the same day that our planet is covered in the
mysterious dark light of a black super moon the first stream of cosmic
particles will arrive on August the first followed by two more blasts in
rapid succession on August 4th whenever a warning is issued that involves an
earth directed coronal mass it becomes a concern because coronal holes are
breaches in the sun's magnetic field which allow massive plumes of plasma to
burst out from the sun's upper atmosphere if the earth aligns with the
bursts of energy it has the potential to initiate dangerous geomagnetic storms
there are three of these solar threats now aimed at the Northern Hemisphere and
the upper reaches of our planet that are certain to have power companies on edge
a direct hit from a powerful blast of solar energy could cripple the electric
grid plunging much of our planet into total darkness
which in a worst-case scenario would result in a direct loss of
communications across the earth this is a frightening prospect one that is
already shared by numerous researchers in the field of solar science the
threats and the consequences of our dynamic solar storm similar to the 1859
Carrington event were recently shared by maverick geologist Randall Carlson an
historical theorist on extinction-level events
just elaborated on the Carrington at the end of 1859 and that was of course the
most recent one that you know was of that particular scale although there
have been quite a few others for example radionuclides are showing up in ice
cores showing that there have been equivalent events multiple times in
history one huge event that was dated to 660 BC another one that was dated to 775
AD then there was the coronal mass ejection of July 23rd 2012 which was
probably even more powerful than the Carrington event of 1859 but luckily it
was directed into space so that it missed earth if it had hit the earth we
would probably still be recovering from that event but luckily we were about it
crossed Earth's orbit about nine days apart from when our planet was there
well powerplants would go down substations would go down transmission
lines cell phone towers would go down there'd be pretty much a collapse of the
electronic grid system that we all depend on and it could last anywhere
depending on the severity of the event anywhere from days to weeks even months
to get back online this would mean that you know basically large portions of the
planet could be plunged into darkness no electricity no means of communication
you know everything that you depend on your refrigerator gone air-conditioning
gone you know pumping stations are gonna be down therefore you wouldn't even be
able to flush your commode it would be four portions of the earth it would be
like going back to the Dark Ages again because we've become so dependent or you
know the thousands of satellites that we depend on for our global
telecommunication systems they could be severely damaged so yeah I mean it could
be a major event and you know NASA in 2014 estimated that there could be about
a 12% chance of having a Carrington level or greater event within the within
the next 10 years up to 2024 so this is a very real thing it's not hypothetical
it's not science fiction you know there was even a minor event that happened in
let's say I believe it was 1989 yes it was 1989 there was a relatively minor
coronal mass ejection event that caused major power outage outages in Quebec
Canada that led to people being out without power for from several days up
to several weeks so and that was a relatively minor event
it depends on the extent if it's a short-lived event obviously the face of
the earth that's towards the Sun it's going to receive the full brunt of it
when that solar when the CM II comes in and what it does is it compresses the
Earth's magnetosphere on the front side and creates a long magnetic tail on the
backside of the earth so it all depends on how long it lasts
if it only lasts a few hours yes it's going to be pretty much disruptive to
the whatever hemisphere of the earth is facing the Sun if it lasted for much
longer than that like twelve or fourteen or sixteen hours or longer yes then it
could encompass the whole planet you see so yes the face of the earth the
hemisphere of the earth that's facing the Sun when that CM e or that solar
flare comes in is going to suffer the most extreme damage
well it depends on the severity and I think that we're looking at you know
we're learning each day that goes by you know we've had solar satellites up
observing the Sun for a number of decades now and pretty much every year
we're learning more about how truly dynamic the Sun really is so I think
that you know we might be faced with the the possibility of something even say an
order of magnitude beyond the Carrington event and in that case we've got some
major trouble on our hands the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
has warned that the incoming solar storm will produce elevated geomagnetic levels
but it may not actually produce the disastrous solar particles that were
described by Carlson even so power companies are preparing their grids in
the event of a Carrington like catastrophe an event that in today's
modern world would have dire consequences for civilization then there
is the appearance of a rare Black Moon which of itself would not be associated
with solar Coronas except that this appearance coincides with a super moon
according to the Farmers Almanac the black super moon will be at its closest
point to the earth and will darken the sky on July 31st and this will allow for
incredible stargazing this is the time to look to the sky asteroids and large
meteors continue making close approaches to the earth in 2019 two newly
discovered asteroids flew past the planet within a 24-hour period On the
28th a space rock designated 2019 OD3 came within 117 thousand miles of
the earth it was first observed by the Atlas mlo in Mauna Loa, Hawaii just one
day prior Its estimated diameter was between 36 and 82 feet and it was
traveling at 40,264 miles per hour this was the 33rd known asteroid to
fly by earth within one lunar distance since the start of the year and it was
the seventh for the month of July then on July 29th a space rock that belongs
to the Apollo group of asteroids designated 2019 ON3 flew past
earth at a distance of 130,997 miles as observed by the pan-starrs 2 telescope
in Hawaii Its estimated diameter was between 24 and 52 feet and it was
traveling at 31,675 miles per hour this became the 34th asteroid to
fly by earth within one lunar distance since the start of the year and it
became the 8th for the month of July we are living in unusual times and the
world is getting more crazy and dangerous by the day world events are
accelerating and people are becoming more apprehensive scientists keep
informing the public that it is just a matter of time before a devastating
solar storm similar to the one that was felt in North America some 160 years ago
will strike our planet once again much like the Carrington event of the 19th
century today's society will be completely unprepared when it strikes so
all we can do at this point is sit back and hope that our planet escapes yet
another threat from space thanks for watching