Spacecraft Warned of Solar Storm Hours Before

We may soon be able to forecast powerful solar storms that could cripple Earth’s electronics more than half a day in advance, following a successful test of a new method using the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, says a report.

The sun occasionally emits massive bursts of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These eruptions can carry strong magnetic fields capable of damaging satellites, power grids, and electronic systems on Earth.

While telescopes and satellites already monitor the sun for signs of CMEs, predicting which ones pose a real threat remains difficult because the danger depends on the orientation of the magnetic fields inside the ejections themselves.

In a recent breakthrough, scientists tested their

approach on historical solar flare data and achieved promising results. Their model — called Surya — was able to predict the occurrence of a solar flare within the following day with 16 per cent greater accuracy than conventional machine learning models.

It also demonstrated the ability to generate a visual image of what an observatory would see up to two hours into the future, further boosting its forecasting potential.