A new solar storm is heading towards Earth and reached its highest intensity between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, as reported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Although it
A solar flare of great intensity and an ejection at 1,500 km/s
The ESA has explained that on Tuesday “an intense solar flare was observed with a peak around 11.04 Spanish peninsular time”. Less than an hour later, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was detected with an estimated speed of 1,500 kilometers per second, whose arrival is expected for tonight or early Thursday, although “with a certain degree of uncertainty”.
The current assessment expects the resulting geomagnetic storm to have a “severe” impact , with potential disruptions to key infrastructure.
Three consecutive coronal mass ejections
The scenario is complicated by the interaction of several CMEs over the past few days. This is detailed by Juha-Pekka Luntama, head of ESA’s Space Weather Office: “Our planet was impacted last night by two consecutive coronal mass ejections that triggered a strong geomagnetic disturbance. We expect a third one to arrive later today or tomorrow. The impact of this third CME will largely depend on whether it merges with the first two or not.”
The forecast calls for the phenomenon to continue: “The geomagnetic storm is expected to continue at a severe level and could affect satellites, power grids and navigation systems. We have observed more CMEs being ejected from the Sun, so intense space activity is expected to continue during the second half of this week.”
One of the most powerful fulgurations in recent years
The Ministry of Science has detailed that Tuesday’s outburst was of X5.1 class, “one of the most powerful in recent years“, and is in addition to the CMEs recorded on November 7 and 9, which reached the Earth on November 11.
The immediate effects have already been detected:
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Temporary outages in high frequency radio communications.
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Disruptions especially visible in areas such as Africa.
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A radiation storm that continues to be active.
Although these solar particles do not pose a health risk on the surface, they can affect satellites and electronic systems in orbit, the Ministry points out.
Spain: minor impacts and no risk for critical infrastructures
Despite the magnitude of the event, Spain is in a relatively favorable situation due to its latitude. The Ministry clarifies: “Spain is not among the countries with the greatest direct exposure to this extreme space weather episode. Our location in mid-latitudes, far from the polar regions, significantly reduces the intensity of the expected effects on the national territory.”
Therefore, no major damage to key infrastructures is anticipated. Possible effects will be punctual:
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Interference in the accuracy of GPS and GNSS systems.
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Very limited disturbances in shortwave or high frequency radio communications.
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No relevant effects on mobile telephony, internet or FM radio are expected.
As for satellites linked to Spain, the Ministry points out that, “In some cases automatic security protocols could be activated or transitory errors detected, with no real impact on the continuity of service.”
Permanent monitoring from Spain and ESA
The Spanish Space Agency (ESA) and ESA maintain a detailed monitoring of the solar storm to anticipate any relevant change or associated risk. Both agencies insist that the intense solar activity could continue during the week, but no serious consequences are expected for our country.
This episode once again highlights the growing importance of space weather and its ability to affect technologies fundamental to modern life, from global communications to navigation to satellite services.
