An enormous solar outburst over the weekend may produce shiny auroras right here on Earth tonight (Feb. 14).
The sun blasted a strong X-class flare into space on Saturday (Feb. 11), an outburst accompanied by an eruption of solar plasma generally known as a coronal mass ejection (CME). Among the CME particles might hit Earth’s higher ambiance late on Valentine’s Day (Tuesday, Feb. 14) and create shining auroras, consultants mentioned.
“Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are potential on Feb. 14 and 15 when a number of CMEs might ship glancing blows to Earth’s magnetic area,” SpaceWeather.com wrote (opens in new tab) of the occasion.
Extra exercise may be coming from “a variety of sunspot teams [that] are current on the seen solar disk,” added the U.S. Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in a Monday (Feb. 13) update (opens in new tab). These sunspots could generate medium-sized or M-class flares within the coming days, NOAA added.
Associated: The sun just erupted with a major X-class solar flare. Here’s what it looked like on video
The sun will attain the height of its present 11-year exercise cycle round 2025, however a lot of the sun storms do not have an effect on us a lot. Transient interruptions can occur in shortwave, and particles related to CMEs could supercharge auroras, that are shining lights excessive in our ambiance brought on by solar particles interacting with molecules in Earth’s ambiance.
NASA and the European Area Company (ESA) accomplice with telescopes around the globe to control the sun, simply in case it occurs to blast out one thing a bit stronger that might have an effect on energy strains or satellite communications.
The companies additionally run a variety of sun-gazing spacecraft, in addition to missions that swoop near the sun to study extra about its exercise. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Solar Orbiter pattern the solar wind — particles streaming from the sun — and check out solar structures and the sun’s atmosphere from a comparatively close-up view.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a ebook about space medication. Observe her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).