In addition to causing alarms about possible disruptions to power grids and satellite communications, the strongest solar storm in over 20 years struck Earth’s atmosphere. It produced amazing celestial light displays in some areas of the globe.
The solar eruption arrived on Earth at around 16:00 GMT on Friday, several hours earlier than expected, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which issued a rare solar storm warning.
The NOAA later upgraded the first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), defined as the sun’s expulsion of plasma and magnetic fields, to a “extreme” geomagnetic storm.
It was the first solar storm since the October 2003 Halloween storms that damaged South Africa’s power infrastructure and caused blackouts in Sweden. The NOAA predicts that there will likely be more solar expulsions in the upcoming days and possibly next week. The US agency advised spacecraft and power plant operators in orbit to exercise caution. The NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Centre warned users of high-frequency radio signals that they “may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth” after one firm peak.
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