Researchers say some railway track circuits are at the mercy of distant storms on the sun’s surface, and train signals can change from red to green or vice versa as a result of extreme space weather. I discovered that.
The Sun is a dynamic star, with stormy explosions that send radiation across the solar system for millions of miles. Some of this radiation could hit Earth, disrupt our technology, and cause bright auroras in the sky. As pointed out, space weather can even disrupt power grids and cause power outages. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Solar storms are occurring more frequently at this time due to where we are in the 11-year solar cycle. Issues for satellite operators.and as research published Space Weather magazine today revealed that a severe solar storm could cause Britain’s railway signals to flip.
“Our research shows that space weather, although relatively rare, can pose a serious risk to railway signaling systems, causing delays and potentially more serious safety implications. “We show that this is the case,” said study lead author Cameron Patterson, a physicist at Lancaster University.university release. “This natural disaster must be taken seriously. By its nature, high-impact and infrequent events are difficult to plan for, but ignoring an event is rarely the best course of action.”
Solar superstorms can destroy critical electronic equipment on Earth, from GPS systems to train signals, no matter when they occur. Previous research Patterson and his team discovered that signal failures (and reversals) can occur in the opposite direction, causing a train signal to change from green to red. These failures, which the research team calls “right-side” failures, can cause significant delays on the rail network, causing trains that should be in motion to come to an unexpected halt. But the newly proposed scenario, a “wrong side” failure, is clearly far more alarming.
the It’s unclear when the next extreme solar storm will occurBut the researchers found that an event as powerful as the Carrington event of 1859, a massive geomagnetic storm caused by a solar eruption, could cause widespread problems for train signals. discovered.
“As we learn more about space weather hazards, we can consider ways to reduce their risks,” study co-author Jim Wilde, a physicist at Lancaster University, said in a statement. “In the future, space weather forecasts could be used to determine restrictions on rail operations when extreme events are expected, in the same way that weather forecasts are used today. not.”
The researchers found that the electric fields caused by a once-in-a-century space weather event can cause a “substantial” number of reverse failures, depending on the number of trains in service at the time.
The latest information on space weather is available at: NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Centertracks solar phenomena and their potential impact on Earth.
more: Two upcoming NASA missions will study space weather that threatens Earth
