Massive Solar Flare Sends a Ball of Energy to Earth — Could Trigger Auroras in Half the US on Wednesday
The sky could be filled with auroras thanks to a rare occurrence. Aurora borealis, a stunning display of neon lights in the sky caused by a geothermal storm, could flare up in large numbers on Wednesday, November 12. A ball of solar plasma, released from a sun flare, is barrelling towards Earth. The accumulated solar energy could trigger auroras all across the northern half of the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an alert, revealing that the geomagnetic storm has reached G4 condition, indicating its severe state. The agency also revealed that a similar display of auroras could be seen on Thursday, November 13. However, this forecast may vary based on more data and new updates in the coming days.
Three solar outbursts are heading towards, and each ball of energy, also known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs, was released from a particular area within the sun. According to NOAA, the flares were released from an active sun region called AR4274, which is currently projected towards Earth. The first two CMEs were produced with a 24-hour gap, one on November 9 and the second flare on the following day. Both these CMEs were triggered by two powerful new X-flares, a category of solar flares that are extremely intense and the most powerful on NOAA's space weather prediction scale, as per Live Science.
The first flare was named X1.7, and the strikingly similar flare that launched a CME towards Earth on November 10 was categorized as an X1.2 flare. According to Space.com, if two CMEs produced from solar flares are headed in the same direction, there are strong chances of one engulfing the other. While the first two are already in the solar system, expected to crash on our planet sometime tonight, a third powerful CME has been detected. This was created when a gargantuan X5.1 solar flare erupted on Tuesday, November 11. The gargantuan X5.1 solar flare is five times stronger and more intense than the X1.7 and X1.2 flares that preceded it. According to the outlet, the powerful flare ignition has caused blackouts across Europe and Africa for a brief period immediately after the eruption.
The massive flare has produced an equally powerful CME, which is predicted to crash into the Earth on Wednesday. Although these consecutive CMEs have made auroras more widespread and visible, it has several downsides. The combined effect of these outbursts will disrupt the planet's magnetic field, prompting a "severe" G4-level geomagnetic storm. It will bring the stunning auroras, aka the northern lights, to unusually low latitudes. Moreover, the magnetic field disturbance will cause fluctuations in the power grid, low-frequency radio disturbances, and GPS errors. "Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid," says the NOAA.
During a G4 geomagnetic storm, the HF radio propagation becomes sporadic, satellite navigation degrades for hours, and low-frequency radio navigation is disrupted. In this condition, the auroras are visible in extreme, unusual, and lower latitude locations like Alabama and northern California. If you are willing to witness the northern lights in action, look for a dark place and go as far away from artificial lights as possible. The auroras could be visible to the naked eye, but if not, there are always resources like telescopes, digital cameras, etc, to enable witnessing the stunning view.
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