Solar Storm is making landfall on Earth

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this aurora appears at much lower latitudes than usual and could appear on the night of September 27 in the northern United States, including including New York, Wisconsin and Washington.

Solar storms are formed from a large amount of charged particles and plasma ejected by the Sun throughout space. Strong solar storms approaching Earth can cause auroras and cause magnetic storms that disrupt satellites and ground power transmission equipment.

According to NOAA, this solar storm this time is ranked as a G2 storm on a five-level scale, with the strongest being G5, so it is still relatively weak and does not cause major impacts.

Only G4 or higher solar storms are capable of causing widespread power outages on Earth.

Solar storms occur when coronal mass ejections (CMEs) around the Sun's equator at tremendous speed escape the Sun's outermost atmosphere and plunge into the Earth's magnetic shield. After exiting the Sun, the CME takes about 15 to 18 hours to reach Earth.

NOAA says that during this time period up to 4 CMEs could impact the Earth. The magnitude of the effects also depends on the intensity of the CME.

The Sun is approaching its maximum period - the most active time in its 11-year cycle, so its magnetic field is also in the strongest state. This means that there will be more and more solar storms of larger magnitude.

NASA predicts that the Sun's activity will gradually increase until July 2025. After that, this activity will slow down and approach a minimum in the cycle.

Micah Soto

Update 28 September 2021