![]() On the other hand … solar storms can be dangerous to our technologies. | A solar flare as observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on January 23, 2012. Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere protect our human bodies from the effects of solar flares. Still, solar storms – and their effects – are no problem for us on Earth’s surface. They would be dangerous to unshielded astronauts, say, astronauts traveling to the moon. ![]() What is the danger of a solar storm in space? Very high-energy particles, such as those carried by CMEs, can cause radiation poisoning to humans and other mammals. If that’s so, then all life on Earth evolved under their influence. Remember, there’s every reason to believe that storms on the sun have been happening for billions of years, since the sun and Earth came to be. These storms are awesome to contemplate, but they cannot harm our human bodies as long as we remain on the surface of Earth, where we’re protected by Earth’s blanket of atmosphere. Solar storms aren’t dangerous to humans on Earth’s surface. This solar material streams out through space, and sometimes strikes Earth. Occasional, powerful coronal mass ejections, or CMEs – giant bubbles of gas and magnetic fields from the sun, containing up to a billion tons of charged particles that can travel up to several million miles per hour – are released into the interplanetary medium. Space observatories will detect short-lived but brilliant and powerful solar flares – intense bursts of radiation and our solar system’s largest explosive events – lasting minutes to hours on the sun’s surface. In an active part of the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity, those using telescopes equipped with special solar filters to peer at the sun – or photograph it – can see dark sunspots dotting the sun’s surface. | An illustration of Earth’s magnetic field shielding our planet from solar particles.
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