Left: You may want to backup your devices today. (Photo of smartphone posted to Flickr by warrenski)
I learned from Southborough Emergency Management that NASA is tracking two recent solar flares with possible impact this weekend.
The warning is of a low potential event – so I’m not trying to tell you the sky is falling.
There is a small possibility that an EMF could damage electronics that are plugged in or operating at the time (even in standby mode).
To me, that warning seems like a good reminder.
Obviously, if you’re reading this post you have access to a computer or smartphone. How many times have you thought that “your life” was on it. And when’s the last time you backed that “life” up?
I know I’ve been lax. Which is why I’ll be running some backups today.
(And, if you’re worried about it, you could unplug any electronic devices on Saturday when they aren’t in use.)
As for Saturday’s event, just keep an ear/eye tuned to news sources (not me!) for more serious warnings. One sources is NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.
Here’s some information from NASA, including a stunning video:
The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2014. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. . .
This flare is classified as an X1.6 class flare. “X-class” denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
posted to You Tube by NASA (credit: NASA/SDO)
