Geomagnetic storm watch issued after powerful solar flare is seen erupting from sun

Solar Flare | Courtesy: CBS

A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued after a powerful solar flare over the weekend.

The solar flare peaked at 9:49 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 30, said NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly monitors the sun. The flare was classified as X1.9 flare, the space agency said. X-classes are the most intense kind of flare. The eruption came from a newly emerging sunspot region.

The flare briefly knocked out radio communications across Australia and parts of southeast Asia on Tuesday, Space.com reported.

A coronal mass ejection, or CME, also occurred. During CMEs, solar material and magnetic fields erupt from the sun. CMEs and solar flares are similar, but they are distinct phenomena, NASA said.

Flares and CMEs can impact radio communications, power grids and navigation signals, NASA said. They can also pose a risk to spacecraft and astronauts. When CMEs reach Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for Thursday, December 4. The CME is not expected to reach Earth, but can still have minor impacts including “manageable effects to some technological infrastructure,” NOAA said. There is some unpredictability in the forecast, NOAA noted, so the storm could arrive as early as December 3.

The Northern Lights may be visible in northern and upper states between New York and Idaho. Weather forecasts, including a powerful winter storm, may limit the chances of seeing the phenomenon.

Scientists may see more space weather activity between December 1 and December 5, NOAA said, as the sun’s newly emerging sunspot region rotates to face the Earth. The sunspot, labeled AR4299, is where the recent flare and CME originated from.