Until all anxiously await "promised" some forecasters end of the world in the coming December, scientists say that the Apocalypse is almost took place this summer. 23 July 2012 happened strongest for the last 150 years magnetic storm on the Sun. And the Sun, as you know, affects nearly all of the processes on the Earth.

That day Observatory solar-terrestrial interaction NASA (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, STEREO) recorded a massive emissions of the solar matter in outer space: its speed was between 2880-3520 kilometers per second. According to experts, it is the fastest coronal mass ejections in the entire history of observations.

The main task of the STEREO system is the tracking of such events. The ejection velocity was able to evaluate the data obtained from two orbiting satellites. One ahead of Earth in its rotation around the Sun, and the other, on the contrary, "lags" - surveillance is conducted simultaneously with two different places at different angles. Stereoscopic effect allows to obtain three-dimensional images of the ongoing processes.

The level of magnetic activity coronal mass at a distance of one astronomical units from the Sun was 80 nanotesla - this value significantly exceeds the index of geomagnetic storms that happened in October 2003, which is still considered the strongest in the entire computer" era. Moreover, the release was accompanied by a powerful stream of photons: one of the apparatus STEREO registered a growth of the total number of charged particles in 100 thousand times.

Scientists believe that, foreseeing coronal mass ejections, can be prepared and try to avoid undesirable consequences. The cloud of particles with strong magnetic field, can cause serious disturbances in the earth's magnetosphere, which will lead to the appearance of the Aurora and problems with any device whose work is connected with electricity.

Last geomagnetic storm of this magnitude, according to the sources, was observed on August 28 - September 2, 1859 and was named "solar hurricane". Then the Sun was marked by numerous spots and flares. The largest emissions fell by 1 September. The flash has registered the British astronomer Richard Carrington. Coronal mass ejections reached our planet for 18 hours. This means that its average speed was 2.3 thousand kilometers per second. Usually the emission comes to Earth a few days with a speed of less than a thousand kilometres a second. As you can see, the current release has broken the record 1859.

"Hurricane" then do not pass without leaving a trace. 1-2 September the Northern lights were visible even in Cuba and Jamaica that these points of the globe are not typical, it was also completely broken Telegraph message in Europe and North America.

Apparently, now the effects of the magnetic supanburi should have been even more catastrophic. After all, the Telegraph is wired and is considered the most robust. The phone in the middle of the last century still was in the process of invention. Electricity was also not very common. And about the computers and other electronic devices nobody've never heard...

In our days the widespread failure of power supply networks and computers would mean the world collapse. According to estimates by NASA, the storm for a few hours would block all high frequency radio broadcasts. In particular, there would be no connection with the Land the aircraft, this could lead to massive plane crashes...

Fortunately, all this did not happen. According to experts, we are simply lucky: the release passed by the Earth. But this does not mean that the threat has passed. Solar activity is growing, and its maximum is expected in 2013.

Even if you can predict storms on the Sun, to prevent their consequences - a much more difficult task. To do this, create a communication system, resistant to magnetic interference that is unlikely to be done in the near future. Today, even the most sophisticated satellite system can not guarantee trouble-free operation. And if e paralysis" is a large scale? Only, as always, hope "random"...