The Sun is currently going through a period of intensity: our host star is experiencing increased activity, with a series of solar eruptions aimed at Earth creating rare geomagnetic storms.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe geomagnetic storm warning on Monday following a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred last week, reaching a severity level of G4. The geomagnetic storm caused bright and colorful auroras around the world last night, and more celestial lights may cover the sky later tonight.
NOAA space weather forecasters have been monitoring at least five CMEs that have erupted from the sun since last week, and expected some of them might be heading toward Earth. “Some flew past the Earth, some hit the Earth, and then finally one of the ones we were expecting had a much bigger impact,” Sean Dahl, service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told Gizmodo.
We are in the middle of a severe geomagnetic storm! 🌎🧲💥
A series of solar eruptions reaching Earth are causing widespread auroras. Here’s what NASA Space Weather Analyst Karina Alden saw while traveling through Michigan and Wisconsin last night! https://t.co/KG5pvCdyit pic.twitter.com/qrpdkva4Vj
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) August 12, 2024
The Sun is approaching solar maximum, an 11-year period of increased solar activity marked by intense solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and giant sunspots. In early May, a G5 or extreme geomagnetic storm struck Earth as a result of a massive ejection of plasma from the solar corona (also known as a coronal mass ejection). This was the first G5 storm to hit Earth in over 20 years, and it had some impact on the Earth’s power grid.
While recent storms have been less intense, space weather forecasters monitor CMEs but acknowledge that predicting such events is difficult. “We don’t know what’s actually going to happen, what the CME is made up of, and how it’s going to act until it gets a million miles from Earth, or 15 to 45 minutes away,” Dahl said. “Only then will we know what it’s made up of, how strong it is magnetically, how fast it’s moving, and whether it’s going to come into contact with Earth.”
Dahl said all the information about the latest CME to hit Earth came together on Sunday night, when scientists monitoring solar activity were able to predict that a severe solar storm was imminent.
This solar cycle has been exceptionally active, with the Sun producing more sunspots than any time since 2002. CMEs typically erupt from areas of the Sun with increased magnetic flux associated with sunspots, and the Sun has produced 299 sunspots so far during the current solar cycle.
The sun clearly isn’t stopping anytime soon. “The bottom line is that we’re going to be subject to increased solar activity throughout this year, next year, and into 2026,” Dahl said. “We’re likely to continue to see this type of activity occur sporadically for the remainder of the solar maximum we’re currently experiencing.”
