NOAA Warns of Possible Geomagnetic Storm Caused by CME Today

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made a remarkable discovery on September 5 when it encountered an extremely powerful Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) while passing by the Sun. This CME expelled interplanetary dust up to a distance of 6 million miles, equivalent to one-sixth of the gap between the Sun and Mercury. Surprisingly, the surrounding dust was quickly replenished. Guillermo Stenborg, an astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) who led the study, stated that these interactions between CMEs and dust were initially proposed twenty years ago but had never been observed until the Parker Solar Probe witnessed a CME behaving like a vacuum cleaner, clearing the path of dust.

In a separate development, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasters have revealed that a CME is rapidly approaching Earth and may soon hit Earth, leading to a geomagnetic storm.

Geomagnetic storm today

According to a report by spaceweather.com, the CME could deliver a striking blow today, September 26. Just two days ago, another CME hit Earth, triggering rare red aurora borealis. Although no aurora is predicted for today, today’s CME could trigger a G1 geomagnetic storm.

The report states: “A geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for September 26, when another CME is expected to hit the Earth’s magnetic field. NOAA forecasters expect it to be a blip, producing only a small G1 storm.

The threat of solar flares

Interestingly, the CME effect is not the only space weather threat that threatens Earth. According to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the sunspot called AR3435 has a “beta-gamma-delta” magnetic field that can propel an X-class solar flare toward the planet.

For the uninitiated, X-class solar flares can cause radiation storms that can not only damage satellites, but also give small doses of radiation to people flying in airplanes at the time! Additionally, these destructive flares can disrupt global communications and bring down power grids, causing blackouts.

If the X-class flares are too strong, they can lead Earth into loops 10 times larger, which jump off the Sun’s surface when the magnetic fields are crossed, according to NASA. When these loops recombine, they can produce as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs!

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