A strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly, and experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigations systems and plane routes.

The storm - the largest in five years - will unleash a torrent of charged particles between 06:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT, US weather specialists say.

They say it was triggered by a pair of massive solar flares earlier this week.

It means there is a good chance of seeing the northern lights at higher latitudes, if the skies are clear.

The effects will be most intense in polar regions, and aircraft may be advised to change their routings to avoid these areas.

In the UK, the best chance to see them will be on Thursday night, the British Geological Survey says.
Complex network

"It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joseph Kunches, an expert at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).

He described the storm as the Sun's version of Super Tuesday - in a reference to the US Republican primaries and caucuses in 10 states.

"Space weather has gotten very interesting over the past 24 hours," Mr Kunches added.

The charged particles are expected to hit Earth at 4,000,000 mph (6,400,000 km/h), and Noaa predicts the storm will last until Friday morning.

Images of from the Sun's region where the flares happened show a complex network of sunspots indicating a large amount of stored magnetic energy.

Other solar magnetic storms have been observed in recent decades.

One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in the US state of Illinois.


sosej

6GMT - 10GMT
that mean 1400 - 1800

kalau takde petang ni kencing la lu ts

as long as internet and pc works ayam fine

I thought solar storms has been there for 3 days already?

OT: damn it SM your Touhou serapah buat aku sakit mata

This post has been edited by ZerOne01: Mar 8 2012, 11:21 AM

Hey smart person, read again.

Ok I'll change it

and now Kony Shitstorm

ah my mistake.

edit: saya perlu belajar lagi

This post has been edited by old_and_slow: Mar 8 2012, 11:31 AM

Hope moonlight not too strong tonight.

i wanna become invisible.....can "save" people...huhu

stated 6GMT
we are +8GMT so 6+8 lah
ke aku salah kira?

2PM. 0600 in GMT. +8 hours is 2PM here. Not sure if you're trolling or what.

i thought usa time iz 24hours beck..

aku nyanyuk, hahha sori. dah edit

dont worry, i trusted earth's magnetic field

GMT is Greenwich mean time, at greenwich near UK