Sun Had Another Geomagnetic Storm; Horrifying Solar Flare, Stunning Northern Lights Seen In US Skies

On Thursday morning, the northern lights were visible over the upper United States, following a severe geomagnetic storm induced by a solar explosion. NASA's orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory also captured the same outburst from the solar flare.

After solar flares and related coronal mass ejections (CMEs)-vast clouds of plasma released from the Sun toward our planet-space weather specialists projected heightened auroral activity earlier this week.

NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory Captures Another Solar Flare Caused by Geomagnetic Storm

According to Space.com, the flare, categorized as a medium-strength type M, was photographed on Thursday (March 31) at 2:35 p.m. EDT by NASA SDO, which monitors Earth's parent star from 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the planet's surface (1835 GMT).

NASA said the Solar Dynamics Observatory scans the Sun's whole disk every ten seconds over a variety of wavelengths, producing images with a resolution 10 times that of high-definition television. The flare in the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum, which reveals its high temperature, is particularly visible in this colorized image.

Science Times earlier released a video of the same most intense series of flares released by an active sunspot region with each class was. In the same report, AR2975 burst in the Sun's most powerful flare class, an X-class, characterized as "clocking in at X1.3."

AR2975 had emitted 36 flares at the time of the report, including one little B-class flare, 29 medium C-class flares, nine larger M-class flares, and this so-called one X-class monster.

The occurrence of an X28 in November 2003 was the strongest flare ever recorded to strike Earth.

Shenanigans can occur when the Sun flares and their associated CMEs (coronal mass ejections) are released in the general direction of Earth.

The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a G3 "strong" geomagnetic storm alert on Tuesday. G3 is in the middle of the G-scale, which ranks geomagnetic storm severity from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most severe.

ALSO READ: Sunspot Releases Huge X-Class Solar Flare; Cannibal Coronal Mass Ejection Brings Northern Lights to Places They Are Not Typically Seen

The storm might create power system voltage abnormalities, increase air drag on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and cause some GPS navigation issues, according to the SWPC, while the effects on electronics from G3-level geomagnetic storms "usually remain minor."

Northern Lights Seen in the United States

Northern Lights may be incredibly strong when caused by solar flares. According to Newsweek, the geomagnetic storm was powerful enough to provide skywatchers in the United States with some breathtaking views.

North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington were among the states where the famed shimmering lights, often known as auroras, were captured.

Lexy Elizalde, an atmospheric and environmental science researcher, captured the spectacular aurora photographs in South Dakota and shared them on Twitter.

"I literally can't believe this happened tonight. 8 meteorology students, 3 mechanical engineering students, 2 journalists, and 1 meteorologist, all watching the northern lights together. This went way better than imagined. So, so happy," Elizalde tweeted.

The Sun is responsible for auroras, which are best observed at night. They happen due to the interaction of solar particles with gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

When solar particles are directed towards Earth, the planet's field directs some of them towards the north and south poles. The particles concentrated in certain places, stimulate the atmospheric gases, causing the auroras' stunning hues.

Because auroras are created by disruptions in the Earth's magnetic field and clouds of solar particles, they occur closer to the equator than they typically would. Northern lights might be visible in regions as far south as Florida and Texas if an intense geomagnetic storm occurs.

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