Solar storm expected to hit earth today, possibly causing GPS blackouts

A solar storm is expected to hit the earth today, possibly disrupting radio and GPS signals.

A physicist for spaceweather.com, using information from NASA, has tweeted that a “snake-like filament” launched a big solar storm while in the earth-strike zone. “NASA predicts impact early July 19,” tweeted Dr Tamitha Skov. Along with possible signal disruptions, it could also lead to the possibility of aurora lights being visible in parts of the world.
According to NASA, a solar flare is “an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.”

Since the Sun is in the active phase of its 11-year cycle, such solar events are on the rise.

The solar storm expected to hit the earth soon could lead to blackouts of GPS navigation systems as it ionizes the upper layers of the atmosphere, which is used for radio communication.

It is possible that the solar storm could also come later this week. According to Spaceweather.com, the storm originated from a Coronal Mass Ejection or a large release of plasma and magnetic energy which erupted from an “unstable filament of magnetism” on July 15.