Sun unleashes powerful flare, geomagnetic storm barrelling towards Earth

This CME is now hurtling towards Earth and is expected to make impact later this week, potentially triggering a new round of geomagnetic storms.

In Short

• Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind
• Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme ultraviolet flash
• Such storms can produce spectacular auroral displays

As Earth emerges from a recent geomagnetic storm that painted the skies with auroras as far south as Arizona and Texas, solar activity shows no signs of slowing down.

On October 8, sunspot AR3848 unleashed a powerful X1.8-class solar flare while directly facing Earth.

Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme ultraviolet flash of this explosive event, which lasted an extraordinary four hours. The prolonged duration of the flare resulted in a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) being lifted out of the sun's atmosphere.

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona (the outermost layer of the sun) or being released into space. CMEs are significant because they can carry billions of tons of plasma and charged particles from the sun, along with its magnetic field.

This CME is now hurtling towards Earth and is expected to make impact later this week, potentially triggering a new round of geomagnetic storms.

Such storms can produce spectacular auroral displays and, in severe cases, affect satellite operations and power grids.

The recent geomagnetic activity, which ranged from G1 to G3 on the scale used by space weather forecasters, has just subsided as Earth exited the magnetized tail of the previous CME. However, this respite may be short-lived given the incoming solar material.

In light of these developments, Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have scheduled a media teleconference for October 15. The agencies will discuss the Sun's current activity and the progression of Solar Cycle 25, which appears to be more active than initially predicted.

Understanding and tracking the solar cycle is crucial for mitigating the impacts of solar activity on technology and infrastructure, especially as humanity ventures further into space.

As the Sun approaches the peak of Solar Cycle 25, expected between late 2024 and early 2026, more frequent and intense solar events are anticipated.