It is expected that today the Earth will be hit by a strong, three-day solar storm that could cause ‘wavering of the electrical grid’, experts warn.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted that a geomagnetic storm, which is a major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere, could disrupt satellite orbits, cause radio blackouts and push incredible displays of the northern lights as far as New York.
The coming storm is caused by an active sunspot that has produced at least 18 flares this week.
This is the same area that ejected a powerful stream of plasmacalled a coronal mass ejection (CME), earlier this month that disrupted communications around the world.
US government space weather experts are warning that a powerful, three-day solar storm will hit Earth today – following a solar flare that triggered a coronal mass ejection (CME) towards Earth – which could cause ‘power grid fluctuations’
The sunspot has completed a full rotation on the Sun, turning back toward Earth for what appears to be a few more active days
The event is just one hint of the big impact on solar weather to come, as the sun reaches its ‘solar maximum’, astrophysicists told DailyMail.com, the most energetic point of its repeating, 11-year solar cycle, next summer in July 2025.
Category G2 or ‘moderate’ solar storms are expected on Friday and Saturday, after today’s milder events, according to NOAA, which runs the US Space Weather Prediction Center.
The ‘impact area’ is likely to extend from the Earth’s poles to 55 degrees ‘geomagnetic latitude’ — a region that includes the northern parts of Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont.
While this puts those regions of the continental US at some level of risk from voltage problems in local power systems and high-frequency radio interference, there will also be benefits.
A beautiful aerial phenomenon known as the aurora borealis or aurora borealis will also be visible in these regions, depending on local cloud cover conditions.
‘The aurora can be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington State,’ NOAA’s latest space weather warning says.
The upcoming solar storm on Friday and Saturday, produced by the X1.4 solar flare CME (pictured, left of top center) ejected yesterday by Sunspot AR3697. CME flares have already caused ‘strong radio outages’ over the mid-Atlantic region, according to EarthSky
Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, has reached a size that now rivals the Sunspot responsible for the infamous Carrington event of 1895 – which set telegraph wires alight, cutting off international communications
Sky watchers who live in those areas may want to snap a few photos even if they can’t see this charged plasma light show in Earth’s upper magnetosphere, according to meteorologist Bob Henson, especially if they have a newer iPhone model.
“Some cameras (including the newer iPhones) are sensitive enough to produce a stunning auroral image even when the aurora is almost or completely invisible to the naked eye,” Henson published to social media site X earlier this month.
Although the solar storm is expected to be less intense this weekend than ‘extreme (G5) geomagnetic conditions‘ of the powerful CMEs that hit Earth from May 10-13, more can be expected as the Sun approaches its most turbulent phase of its cycle.
‘We could easily get much bigger storms over the next year or two,’ Dr Jonathan McDowell of the Smithsonian and Harvard Center for Astrophysics told DailyMail.com earlier this month.
Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, is a disturbance on the sun’s surface that was responsible for the largest G5 solar storm this May and is larger than the sunspot that caused the infamous Carrington event in 1859.
Storm Carrington set fire to telegraph wires, disrupted communications around the world, and even disrupted ships’ compasses—a history that could repeat itself, wreaking havoc on modern technology if Earth faces a direct hit from these larger solar storms.
The sunspot has completed a full rotation on the Sun, turning back toward Earth for what appears to be a few more active days.
‘This is definitely a scary time for satellite operators,’ said Dr McDowell.
In recent years, it has also been proven that large geomagnetic storms can destroy satellites by causing them to fall into other objects in space.
One geomagnetic storm in 2022, the last major storm before this May, destroyed up to 40 Starlink satellites worth more than $50 million, according to the company.
The coming solar storm on Friday and Saturday, produced by the X1.4 solar flare CME ejected by Sunspot AR3697 yesterday, has already caused ‘strong radio blackouts’ over the mid-Atlantic region, according to EarthSky.
WHAT IS THE SOLAR CYCLE?
The sun is a huge ball of electrically charged hot gas that moves creating a strong magnetic field.
This magnetic field goes through a cycle called the solar cycle.
About every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field flips completely, meaning the Sun’s north and south poles switch places.
The solar cycle affects activities on the Sun’s surface, such as sunspots, which are caused by the Sun’s magnetic fields.
Every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field reverses, meaning that the Sun’s north and south poles switch places. The solar cycle affects activity on the Sun’s surface, increasing the number of Sunspots during stronger (2001) phases than weaker (1996/2006) phases.
One way to monitor the solar cycle is to count sunspots.
The beginning of the solar cycle is the solar minimum, that is, when the Sun has the fewest spots. Over time, solar activity – and the number of sunspots – increases.
The middle of the solar cycle is the solar maximum, that is, when the Sun has the most spots.
As the cycle ends, it fades back to solar minimum and then a new cycle begins.
Huge eruptions on the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, also increase during the solar cycle.
These eruptions send powerful bursts of energy and material into space that can affect Earth.
For example, eruptions can cause lights in the sky, called auroras, or affect radio communications and power grids on Earth.
