The intense solar flare that was unleashed on Saturday causing a radio blackout for several minutes, could recur in the next few days hurting aviation and communication systems, scientists have warned.
"Though people on the ground will not be affected, satellite systems may be affected and this would likely have an effect on the aviation and communication systems for a while. This may last for up to a few hours," said Dr Mayank Vahia, cosmic rays scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. While the harmful radiation from the flare cannot pass through the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where communications signals travel.
On Saturday, the brief X1-class flare erupted from a decaying sunspot and this was captured on video by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
dna reported on July 5, 2013, that the sun is at its peak of its 11-year-old solar cycle and emitting dangerous X-rays and gamma rays that can cause serious health complications.
Such cycles can last up to a year and space scientists at the Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP) had written a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) warning it of the dire consequences of the cycle.
ICSP, which works in association with ISRO and NASA, had carried out several balloon-borne experiments in April-May 2013 and were alarmed with the astonishing results. These were presented at the European Space Agency Conference.
Suhas Naik-Satam, programme co-ordinator (scientific) at the Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai, said, "The effect on the satellite system cannot be ruled out and therefore all sectors heavily dependent on such communications systems will have to stay alert."
The solar cycle should have ideally peaked in 2011. But the active phase started late. Experts claim that the severity of the situation will depend upon the location and path of the satellite.
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