CMEs

Planet Busters, Not!
Space Science News, Dec. 31, 2000

A popular rumor making the rounds on the Internet is that on Jan. 1, 2000, the sun will let loose with a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) that will zap important communications satellites and short-circuit terrestrial power grids. Not! The sun indeed is becoming more active, but it's nothing new. "The sun's been doing this for a long, long time," said Dr. David Hathaway, solar physics group leader at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. And even though the sun is climbing towards the peak of yet another sunspot cycle maximum, "This cycle is a little different from what we've seen, but not out of the ordinary. For us on Earth it's going to be life as usual.

Hathaway was one of several scientists who spoke about the current solar maximum in a panel discussion at the American Geophysical Union's recent annual fall meeting in San Francisco. "The big difference for us is our increasing dependence on technology in general and on space-based technology in particular. Certainly it's not going to wipe out the planet although it may affect a satellite or two. "The story about a powerful CME is gaining wide circulation on the Internet, largely because there are elements of truth to it. The solar cycle is climbing towards maximum. CMEs can generate geomagnetic storms that disrupt or damage satellites. Geomagnetic storms have overloaded the power grid in the American northeast. And then there was the "planet buster" comment offered in jest but taken seriously by a few people. "It looks like this cycle, while bigger than usual, is certainly no record setter," Hathaway continued. "In fact, it keeps looking wimpier than expected."