The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, for its English acronym) on Monday warned of A geomagnetic storm caused by a massive solar flare that will affect Earth today and may cause outages in electrical networks, while it can carry the aurora borealis for hundreds of miles south, as far as New York City.

This phenomenonA flare known to experts as a “coronal mass ejection” (CME) And astronomers spotted it on Saturday on the side of the sun facing the Earth. CMEs occur during periods of greatest solar activity.

sun spot Active AR2882 erupted on Saturday October 9, 2021 (0640 UT), Produces strong M1.6 and CME class solar flares directed at Earth

Notable NOAA alert that A geomagnetic storm will generate fluctuations in the electrical grid with voltage alerts at higher latitudes, as the Earth is more exposed in these areas.

What is more, Satellites can be affected and show ‘routing irregularities’ So they must be redirected from ground controls, like any object in low Earth orbit encounters increased resistance. A geomagnetic storm can reach category G2, which is fairly strong, according to that US government agency.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated that “Event analysis and model departures suggest CME arrives around noon on October 11, with continued effects lasting through October 12.” This will happen from late afternoon to early evening in the UK and Europe, around noon and mid-afternoon in Argentina and South America.

“There is little chance that the aurora borealis will reach the far north of England and Northern Ireland tonight, but the clouds are breaking so Sights more likely in Northern Ireland,” Agency added.

It is most likely to be visible at higher latitudes, south and north of the Earth. That is, they can be seen, if conditions are right, in places like Tasmania, Scotland, southern Sweden and the Baltic states.

The aurora borealis is an atmospheric phenomenon that appears in the form of brightness or brilliance in the night sky, generally in the polar regions, although it can appear in other regions of the world for short periods. In the northern hemisphere it is called the aurora borealis and in the southern aurora borealis.

The largest solar storm ever recorded occurred in 1859 and is known as the Carrington event, but according to predictions that this would not reach a similar magnitude.

The Carrington event left visible auroras across the sky, even at latitudes much closer to the equator, and has been described in contemporary reports as Even brighter than the light of the full moon.

That solar storm It caused failures in telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America, then the most important means of remote communication. If a similar phenomenon occurred today, it is estimated that it could cause billions of dollars in damage worldwide.

Astronomers say so Solar activity increases and decreases every 11 years. It is a normal phenomenon, although it does not work very accurately. Specialists note that the Earth is in the early years of a new period of activity.

Scientists say that the sun can wake up during the period of increased activity of the solar flare, Having remained relatively calm for the past few years. A new family of sunspots has been discovered on that star’s surface that caused the biggest solar flare they’ve seen since 2017.

Solar flares are of different types. Class X is considered the most intense. The CME that occurred on Saturday was a Category M event, the second most powerful event after the X. Because the flares pointed toward Earth can be seen as a halo around the Sun, this is known as the “Halo CME.”

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