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Massive Solar Flare and Potential Geomagnetic Storm Heading Towards Earth

A giant, ring-shaped solar flare shot out from the Sun on Saturday, September 16, spewing an explosion of super-hot plasma known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth, media outlets have confirmed.

Coronal mass ejection

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is monitoring the Earth-directed portion of the coronal mass ejection expected to hit the planet on September 19.

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This could be good news for skywatchers, since if a coronal mass ejection arrives as expected, it could trigger a geomagnetic storm that causes aurora borealis, according to Spaceweather.com.

Heliophysicist Keith Strong said on his account on the X website (formerly Twitter) about his excitement about the massive solar explosion: It is the largest eruption I have ever seen. I’ve been observing the sun professionally for over 50 years, and this is the largest solar flare I’ve ever seen.

Geomagnetic storms are known to be disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar material released by coronal ejections, which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s atmosphere.

Crepuscular activity

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classifies geomagnetic storms on a scale from G1, which can cause increased auroral activity around the poles and slight fluctuations in energy supply, up to G5, the most extreme level that can cause complete radio blackout. The frequency on the ground is on the sunlit side and lasts for several hours.

A G2 storm expected on Tuesday (September 19) could produce widespread auroral displays.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it can lead to a limited interruption of high-frequency radio communications on the sunlit side and the potential loss of radio communication for up to tens of minutes. There may also be a degradation of low-frequency navigation signals for tens of minutes.

We can expect more extreme space weather events as the Sun approaches the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, expected to occur in 2025. But like weather on Earth, space weather is fickle and forecasts can change.

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