The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch alert following the eruption of at least seven coronal mass ejections earlier this week. Material ejected during the intense bout of solar activity is expected to reach Earth on Friday, May 10, potentially triggering colorful aurora that could be visible accross swathes of North America over the course of the weekend.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) are colossal stellar explosions brought about by shifts in the Sun’s magnetic field, which launch vast clouds of charged particles accounting for billions of tons of coronal material to the farthest reaches of our Solar System. These stellar temper tantrums often occur alongside the appearance of smaller, short lived stellar explosions known as solar flares.
Whilst they may sound apocalyptic, CMEs are actually a regular occurrence on our Sun, and tend to take place with a higher frequency when our star is at the height of its 11-year activity cycle - which we’re coming up to now, by the way. The reason that we rarely experience the effect of these colossal outbursts is simply because powerful CMEs usually occur on a part of the Sun’s surface that is facing away from our planet.
The Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) has issued the first G4 (Severe) geomagnetic watch since 2005. The aurora tonight/tomorrow morning may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.
— National Weather Service (@NWS) May 10, 2024
Story:… pic.twitter.com/bqgd9qqnNI
However, starting on May 7 and continuing through to May 9, Sun-facing telescopes captured a series of at least seven powerful CMEs and accompanying solar flares exploded into life on a region of our star marked by a cluster of enormous sunspots. According to NOAA, the onslaught of stellar material cast out by the solar upheaval is even now on an intercept course with Earth, and will reach our planet in a matter of hours.
Whilst the impending solar storm poses no threat to human life, the observations have been sufficient to prompt NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center to issue an extremely rare ‘Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch’ for Friday May 10 - the first alert of its kind in almost 20 years.
According to NOAA, the material from the CMEs should merge and begin to interact with Earth’s atmosphere on Friday evening (UTC). Over the course of the weekend, the storm of high energy charged particles could interact with our planet’s magnetosphere to create auroras that will be visible across swathes of North America, and could even be seen as far south as Alabama, and northern California.
There is also the potential that interference brought on by the solar storm could disrupt orbital satellites and Earthbound communications, with the most powerful events being capable of affecting power grids, and GPS navigation systems. The operators of these critical infrastructure elements have already been notified of the potential risks, allowing them to put safeguards in place where possible.
Keep an eye on the NOAA's Space Weather Predictions website, and NASA socials for updates on the solar storm over the course of the weekend.
Image credit: NOAA
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
