NASA is predicting that a geomagnetic storm could hit Earth this week, as a blast of solar plasma rockets toward our planet.
This blast, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), erupted from the surface of the sun on Tuesday and the space agency’s model warns it could create a geostorm that hits Earth Friday.
The model shows this CME glancing off of Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around out planet that is dominated by magnetic field.
This means the chance of a geomagnetic storm is low. If one does hit, it would be a ‘minor’ G1 storm – the lowest level of severity for these events.
G1 storms can cause slight disruptions to power grids, satellites and radio communications.
At northern latitudes, the aurora borealis – a dazzling natural light display – may be visible in the night sky.
It’s already been an unprecedented year for solar activity, which ramped up in recent weeks as the sun approached solar maximum.
This peak of activity officially began on October 15, and could continue for the next year, experts say.
A filament eruption has sent a blast of solar plasma hurtling toward our planet. It’s forecasted to glance off Earth’s magnetic field, which could cause a minor geo storm on November 1
The CME currently heading toward Earth stemmed from a filament eruption on the sun’s southwestern edge that occurred around 7am ET on October 29, according to EarthSky.
Filaments are cooler regions on the sun’s surface that can become unstable and suddenly erupt, sometimes producing CMEs.
At the time of this eruption, a large coronal hole formed in the sun’s northeast quadrant.
This is an area where the corona – the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere – is much denser and cooler than it’s surroundings.
They occur when the sun’s magnetic field is exposed to interplanetary space, and this open configuration can generate strong solar winds.
This newly formed coronal hole is currently in a geoeffective position – which means it’s facing Earth and can have an effect on our planet.
The combined effect that its solar winds and the CME’s glancing impact could trigger ‘some interesting auroral activity’ on Earth on November 1, according to EarthSky.
Aurora occur when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field, decorating the night sky with vibrant curtains of green, pink, red, yellow, blue and violet.
The combined effect of the solar winds and the CME’s impact could trigger ‘some interesting auroral activity’ on Earth, experts say
They are most commonly seen in the auroral zone – a region within 1,550 miles of the North Pole. Typically, the lights can only be seen in areas including Scandinavia, Alaska and Iceland.
Geomagnetic storms can make aurora appear further south. Earlier this month, a G4 storm caused the northern lights to stretch all the way down to Florida.
It’s unlikely that a G1 storm would cause the northern lights to expand far beyond the auroral zone. But sky watchers in northern latitudes could get to see some heightened aurora activity Thursday night.
And there will be more chances to see this spectacle as the sun spends the next year in solar maximum – the period during its 11-year cycle when solar activity is at its peak.
In 2019, scientists predicted that solar maximum would begin around July 2025. But as the sun’s activity ramped up over the course of 2024, it became clear that this peak would arrive much sooner than expected, prompting experts to revise their forecast.
In a teleconference with reporters on October 15, representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced that the sun had reached its solar maximum period, according to EarthSky.
The sun has already shot out 41 X-class solar flares this year – the strongest kind.
That’s more than have occurred in the last nine years combined, according to spaceweather.com. In an average year, X-class solar flares only occur around 10 times.
Solar maximum could last for at least another year, so we can expect to see plenty more intense solar flares, CMEs and geomagnetic storms battering our planet in 2025.