'Intense' Solar Flare Will Cause Major Geomagnetic Storms and Aurora Displays, NASA Says
Authorities predict that states as far south as Oregon and Illinois will be able to see auroras between now and Oct. 6
NASA had a busy start to October, as the agency announced that the sun emitted several major solar flares on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, NASA announced that its Solar Dynamics Observatory — which constantly watches the sun — captured footage of images of a massive solar flare classified as an X7.1-strength flare, meaning it was one of the "most intense" types of flares.
According to NASA, solar flares are defined as "powerful bursts of energy," and they can impact everything from radio communications and electric power grids to navigation signals. They're known to impact Earth's weather — resulting in possible temporary radio blackouts above parts of the U.S., LiveScience reported. Spaceweather.com reported that Hawai'i was hit the hardest by the flare, as the Pacific experienced temporary radio blackouts after the flare was emitted.
An X7.1 (R3) solar flare erupted from Region 3842 this evening - as seen in this animation (courtesy of jhelioviewer). This was the second strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, only bested by an X8.7 flare on May 14th of this year. See https://t.co/MiukLmxbua for full story. pic.twitter.com/Qohhyk17DW
— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) October 2, 2024
On Thursday, Oct. 3, NASA also announced that the observatory had captured even more images of another, even stronger flare — this time, an X9.0 flare that marked the strongest one recorded this season (solar cycle 25).
The flare was rated an R3-strength (flares are rated R1-R5, with R1 being the weakest) by NOAA, meaning that it may cause a "strong" radio blackout.
"Today's X9 (R3) flare was prolific, but impulsive," NOAA wrote in an X post. "Still, the flare was associated with a CME and analyses and model runs are being conducted at this time."
SWPC Forecasters have issues G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watches for 04-06 October due to a pair of coronal mass ejections that are anticipated to arrive over the course of the next three UTC days.
Stay tuned at https://t.co/4CNTc1IkKt for updates as we monitor this activity! pic.twitter.com/RbLzQKHSUX— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) October 3, 2024
Following NASA's reports, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3-level geomagnetic storm warning for Oct. 4 through Oct. 6, meaning that two coronal mass ejections (CME), or an eruption of solar materials such as gas, is likely to hit Earth between now and Saturday — which could trigger bright aurora displays.
"A CME is anticipated to reach and impact Earth with elevated geomagnetic response and dependent upon the orientation of the embedded magnetic field, potential exists for Strong Storm levels," the Space Weather Prediction Center said in its advisory.
If NOAA's forecasts are correct, people in the U.S. as far south as Illinois or Oregon could get a glimpse at the northern lights.
"Limited, minor effects to some technological infrastructure possible, but mainly mitigatable. The aurora may become visible over many of the northern states and some of the lower Midwest to Oregon," the center added.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, auroras are caused by solar wind carrying charged particles from CMEs and solar flares to Earth's magnetosphere, where "fast moving particles slam into our thin, high atmosphere, colliding with Earth's oxygen and nitrogen particles."
"As these air particles shed the energy they picked up from the collision, each atom starts to glow in a different color," the lab states.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.