Geomagnetic storm question.

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Jnicholes United States of America
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Geomagnetic storm question.

#1

Post by Jnicholes »


62AA603D-A26B-47F8-AF63-7BEB3E8B1BE2.png
Apparently, there was a G4 geomagnetic storm last night, and I didn’t know it. According to the article, Auroras spilled as far south as New Mexico.

Now I’m having severe router problems. Internet company can’t figure out what’s going on.

I have a very simple question for astronomers here. Could a G4 geomagnetic storm affect something like electronics and a router?

I’m just curious.

Jared.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#2

Post by messier 111 »


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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#3

Post by Jnicholes »


Thanks for the link. I actually just solved it, and believe it or not, I THINK I was right.

The Internet company said they were receiving interference from they do not know where. Our Internet went out completely. They said they had to adjust the frequency.

I bet you that interference was from the sun and the geomagnetic storm.

It’s back now, so everything is good.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#4

Post by messier 111 »


Jnicholes wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:20 am Thanks for the link. I actually just solved it, and believe it or not, I THINK I was right.

The Internet company said they were receiving interference from they do not know where. Our Internet went out completely. They said they had to adjust the frequency.

I bet you that interference was from the sun and the geomagnetic storm.

It’s back now, so everything is good.
it's funny that you say that, my wife just told me that she had difficulty hearing people on her zoom.
I don't know if there is a correlation, but let's say it's quite a coincidence.
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#5

Post by Makuser »


Hi Jared. Ole Sol has been really heating up as it is heading up to the peak of it's 11 year cycle. Here is another report about the G4 solar storm:
https://www.space.com/strongest-solar-s ... orecasters
Thanks Jared and I am glad that your Internet problems are over now.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#6

Post by Jnicholes »


Makuser wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:47 pm Hi Jared. Ole Sol has been really heating up as it is heading up to the peak of it's 11 year cycle. Here is another report about the G4 solar storm:
https://www.space.com/strongest-solar-s ... orecasters
Thanks Jared and I am glad that your Internet problems are over now.
That’s a very interesting article. Thank you.

Here’s the full rundown of what happened yesterday:

We were noticing all day that our Internet speed was very slow. About 3 Mbps. Later, we noticed that we were not able to stream any video. Internet connection was so slow, that we could not stream video, but we could access webpages, but even then the webpages were loading slowly.

Then, it went out completely. We contacted the Internet company, and they said that “they were experiencing interference from they do not know where.” They said “they had to adjust the frequency on their devices.” After adjusting the frequency, everything went back to normal with the Internet. We got it back.

It was during the time where the Internet was going very slow that I went to spaceweather.com and discovered that we had a G4 geomagnetic storm.

I don’t think it’s coincidence, but all the evidence seems to point to the geomagnetic storm causing Internet problems for me and maybe even @messier 111 as he mentioned his wife was having problems with zoom.

That’s pretty much it.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#7

Post by The Wave Catcher »


In general, during a severe geomagnetic storm the Earth’s magnetic field shakes like a bowl of jelly. As the changing magnetic flux sweeps across conductors, electric currents are induced. Utility services have to pay attention to the space weather to mitigate any problems created by large, unexpected currents. For instance, in 1989 the whole province of Quebec in Canada lost power due to a large geomagnetic storm creating too much additional current on their long transmission lines.

By the way, I’ve seen some excellent photos red auroras taken here in Texas from the night of March 23/24. Sadly, it was overcast here in Fort Worth though I expected aurora due to noticing the geomagnetic storm on HF radio signals.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#8

Post by Baurice »


We've been clouded out for the auroras in south west England but the solar disc is teeming with sunspots.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#9

Post by Lady Fraktor »


The 1859 Carrington Event electrified the atmosphere so much that telegraph operators could send and receive messages without being plugged into the system.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#10

Post by GCoyote »


More storms this past week.

SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER - https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Pretty much the same info but a bit more user friendly at the cost of having to see ads.

SpaceWeatherLive - https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#11

Post by Makuser »


Hi all. Here is a little more about the Carrington event. The telegraph operators were still connected to the telegraph lines but disconnected their batteries from their equipment because the geomagnetic storm was so great that it induced electrical power into the long telegraph lines. Here is something that you might fine interesting. This is a photo of my collectable antique Western Union telegraph sounder:
WU Sounder.JPG

In the upper left you can see that is was manufactured by Western Electric Co which is stamped on the brass, and a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph company. At the bottom center you can see the metal plate with reads W. U. TEL. CO., next line reads Main Line Sounder and bottom line reads 120-OHM.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#12

Post by Jnicholes »


I feel like I should let you all know something.

My neighbor who works with the Internet company came over for dinner with his family yesterday. We were talking about what happened with the Internet that day. He confirmed that it was the suns geomagnetic storm that caused the interference.
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#13

Post by Thefatkitty »


Interesting... Our internet was at a crawl here yesterday as well. I was living in Montreal in 1989 when a flare took out the James Bay power grid. A bit of chaos, but on the flip side; some of the darkest skies I've ever seen... :D

If we had another Carrington event now it would not go well. With our dependence on technology that could be fried by a "super storm" from the Sun, the results of that would be a disaster. Back in 2012 we had a near miss...

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm

As Marshall said, the Sun is ramping up now in cycle 25. Since it first began back in 2019, it's currently more active at the same time frame as cycle 24 was. I've been photographing the Sun in white light since 2016, and I can vouch for the increase in sunspots.

Keep your fingers crossed! ;)

All the best and thanks for the info,
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

#14

Post by The Wave Catcher »


Except for the short term radio blackouts during the day, the solar activity is always great for HF radio propagation via the ionosphere!
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

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Post by Makuser »


Hi Steve. And also with the very active sun, the sporatic E layer propagation on frequencies from 28 Mhz. to 144 Mhz., which makes for a lot of fun on the 10, 6, and 2 meter amateur radio bands during the summer daytime.
Marshall
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Re: Geomagnetic storm question.

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Post by The Wave Catcher »


Makuser wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:22 pm Hi Steve. And also with the very active sun, the sporatic E layer propagation on frequencies from 28 Mhz. to 144 Mhz., which makes for a lot of fun on the 10, 6, and 2 meter amateur radio bands during the daytime.
Ironically, solar activity doesn’t effect Sporadic-E much. Sporadic-E has strong seasonal and diurnal variations and is precise cause is still open to much research. That said, in another month or two Sporadic-E will be in full swing for the northern hemisphere. Look for me on 6 m then!

Right now, the higher solar flux has opened up the higher frequencies to efficient long-haul F2 propagation. I even worked a station in Ecuador from Texas on 50.1 MHz CW the other day via F2 Transequatorial Propagation, TEP. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced that kind of propagation on 6 m (last solar cycle).

de AA5TB
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