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GAS CLOUD FROM SUN THREATENS EARTH SATELLITES Fri Feb 18 2000 18:41:11 UTC
[UK Press Association] -- A massive cloud of hot electrically charged gas
spewed out by the Sun appears to be hurtling towards the Earth, threatening
communication satellites and power grid systems, it was disclosed today.
The solar eruption, or Coronal Mass Ejection, was spotted by the Sun
observation spacecraft Soho yesterday.
Billowing away from the Sun at up to 2,000 kilometers per second, the plasma
cloud weighing as much as 10 billion tons is expected to reach the Earth
some time in the next two days.
Fortunately the mass is spread out across a huge area.
When it arrives communication satellites could be knocked out of action,
power grids on Earth overloaded and dazzling aurora displays appear in the
sky across the whole of Britain.
Ahead of the CME will be a bow-wave of fast-moving charged atomic particles,
mainly electrons and protons, that can damage sensitive equipment and pose a
hazard for space-walking astronauts.
As the cloud envelopes the Earth it is likely to kick up a geomagnetic
storm - a major disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field.
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