This Multi-Trillion Dollar Disaster Is Coming, And Solar Astronomy Is Our Prime Defense
“Although the largest solar flares are rare, they do occur with some regularity. Some of them create coronal mass ejections; some coronal mass ejections head directly towards Earth; some of the ones that do head towards Earth have exactly the right properties to create spectacular aurorae and potentially catastrophic geomagnetic storms. Only now, with this new generation of solar astronomy tools, are we finally in position to scientifically prepare for the inevitable disaster.
For decades, we've avoided the ruination of our modern infrastructure through sheer luck alone. A Carrington-level event, if it were to strike us unawares, would certainly cause trillions of dollars worth of damage worldwide. With the advent of these new heliophysics-focused observatories, led by the NSF's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, we'll finally have the opportunity to know when "the big one" is coming.”
In 1859, solar astronomer Richard Carrington was observing the Sun, when a “white light flare” danced around a massive sunspot for around five minutes before disappearing. 18 hours later, the largest geomagnetic storm in recorded history struck Earth. If such an event were to occur today, the induced currents it would create could cause trillions of dollars worth of damage.
But there’s a scientific way to know if one is coming, not just minutes in advance but from the moment the Sun releases a coronal mass ejection: through solar astronomy. In particular, the National Science Foundation’s new Inouye Solar Telescope, whose first light image has delighted the public across the world, will provide our first line of defense against this Sun-driven catastrophe, as well as our first early warning signal.
As spectacular as our first images of the Sun with this new observatory are, there’s a science goal that’s relevant to us all. This is why we study the Sun as we do.
