Solar storm impact on RI unknown
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Experts remain uncertain about how the recent geomagnetic particle storm will affect Indonesia, as the shockwave from the storm is moving at a very high speed, making it hard to observe.
The charged particles from the solar storm, known as a coronal mass ejection, is estimated to be moving at 5.2 million miles per hour.
Mudji Raharto, a staff lecturer at the school of astronomy, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and former head of Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, West Java, said the cloud of charged particles was moving at high speeds, which was accelerated by the Earth's magnetic field.
"Therefore, we cannot immediately calculate what the impact might be on us," Mudji told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He said he could not determine what kind of particles hit the Earth, nor how seriously the charged particles would affect the country's telecommunication transmissions.
"We might found out in a couple of days," he said.
He speculated that the impact would be minimal, as Indonesia is located along the equator, and the greatest impact was in the northern hemisphere.
However, he said the solar storm might last several days, as observations showed the sun spot had been growing bigger without any signs of receding.
Widya Sawitar, an ITB-based astronomer stationed at the Taman Ismail Marzuki planetarium, said developed countries had taken serious measures to anticipate the shockwave, as it could hamper satellite transmissions.
"In an extreme way, the shockwave is similar to the energy that breaks glasses when a jet flies by," he said, adding that the shockwave would reach throughout the entire galaxy.
He said, however, Indonesia might not need to be too concerned, because its satellite space was not as dense as those of other countries.
"Therefore, satellites in Indonesian space might be less affected," he said.
Officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (LAPAN), which controls Indonesian satellite Palapa, could not be reached for comment.
A shockwave from the Sun hit the Earth on Wednesday, the final burst from a solar storm that has hampered some satellite transmissions and led electric grid operators to curb power transmissions as a precaution.
Power plants from Sweden to New Jersey cut production to limit the amount of electricity flowing over transmission grids, preparing to absorb any sudden surge in energy that might result in coming days from lingering effects of the storm. A Japanese communications satellite, meanwhile, stopped its operations temporarily due to the impact of strong solar flares which occurred earlier this week.