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Module 3 of 6 · 8 min

Watch a storm happen

May 2024. Sunspot group AR 3664 fired a barrage of CMEs at Earth over three days, and they arrived on top of each other. This is the strongest storm in twenty years, replayed from the measured archive.

ReplayGannon Storm, May 2024 (G5) · measured archive data
Press play from stop 1. Six simulated hours pass every second. Pause when the first wedge reaches Earth's orbit.
1

The idea

A single fast CME makes a storm. Several in a row make a superstorm, because each one sweeps the path clear for the next. Watch the later wedges catch the earlier ones. That pile-up is what hit Earth.

2

Your call

Play from stop 1 and pause the moment the first wedge reaches Earth's orbit. Read the clock. When did the storm arrive?

Optional · two more storms to replay the same way

Check yourself · Module 3

1. What pushed the May 2024 storm to extreme (G5) levels?
The launches come in groups, later CMEs plowing into earlier ones. Stacked arrivals are how extreme storms happen.
2. The 2022 Starlink loss taught that even a minor storm can destroy satellites if…
The G1 storm heated and expanded the upper atmosphere; 38 just-launched satellites at very low altitude couldn't out-climb the extra drag. Timing beat strength.
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