The US Space Weather Prediction Center has released a G3 geomagnetic storm watch on October 30-31 following the solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun. The charged particles from the G3 storm interacted with Earth's magnetosphere that triggered the auroras in several parts of the world.
The recent geomagnetic storm created auroras in the lower latitudes, which is unusual as they usually appear in the northern latitudes. Experts say that a geomagnetic storm is capable of driving aurora further away if other factors come together.
On August 1, 2010, almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory of the news-making solar event on August 1 shows the C3-class solar flare (white area on upper left), a solar tsunami (wave-like structure, upper right), multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more.
NASA Captured Geomagnetic Storm During Halloween
NASA said that the active region on the left side of the Sun flickered with small flares and caused petal-like eruptions between October 25 to 26. Science Times previously reported that NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a solar flare expected to reach Earth on October 31, just in time for Halloween.
On October 28, the Sun released a significant flare that arrived on Earth 48 hours later. India Today reported that the solar flare is classified as an X1-class fire, a category given to intense flares. Meanwhile, X2 classification is twice the intensity of X1, an X3 is three times intense, and so on.
Solar flares could even reach up to X10 classification, which is considered to be unusually intense. The strongest solar flare recorded was an X28 in 2003.
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Effects of the Geomagnetic Storm on Earth
"Impacts to our technology from a G3 storm are generally nominal," the SWPC wrote in a statement. They added that the G3 storm has the potential to drive auroras to other parts of the world aside from its normal polar residence if other factors come together.
According to Space.com, auroras in the Earth's polar regions appear when charged particles from the solar wind coming from the Sun hit the Earth's magnetosphere. But auroras are more visible in the north pole because the planet's magnetic field funnels these particles to the Earth's poles.
The solar flare that occurred on Thursday sent a CME toward the Earth at under 2.2 million mph (3.5 million kph). On Saturday night, it reached the Earth and triggered the auroras at lower latitudes, which continued until Halloween.
However, NASA solar scientist C. Alex Young cautioned observers at the lower latitudes, such as residents in the northeast, upper midwest of the US, and Washington state that the display will not be as impressive as those in the north. Also, they should be away from city lights to see any auroras.
The Sun is currently at the beginning of the 11-year solar cycle 25. An activity of rising and falling is expected over the course of this cycle, like the X1 solar flare recorded last month and the X1.6 solar flare in July.
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Check out more news and information on the Sun in Science Times.
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