Solar Storm to Trigger G1-Class Geomagnetic Disturbance on Earth

In recent months, solar activity has been on the rise, likely due to the impending Solar Maximum. The sun began its 25th solar cycle in 2019 and is projected to reach its peak in July 2025, leading to even greater solar activity during this time. As a result, we can anticipate a surge in solar events, including sunspot eruptions, solar storms, solar flares, geomagnetic storms, and other phenomena that may impact Earth.

Recently, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasters have warned of a possible CME strike that could hit Earth and soon cause a geomagnetic storm.

According to a recent report from spaceweather.com, NOAA forecasters have been keeping an eye on the Coronal Mass Explosion (CME) thrown by the Sun into space during an M2.5 explosion on June 9th. This CME is alarmingly moving towards the Earth and is predicted to collide with the Earth’s magnetic field. The report further states that this collision is likely to lead to a G1 class geomagnetic storm that is expected to hit the planet and could deliver a striking blow tomorrow, June 13.

The dangers of a geomagnetic storm

While such impacts can create fascinating auroras, they can cause a lot of infrared damage on Earth and in space. They can damage small satellites, affect mobile networks and GPS, and even pose a threat to ground-based electronics and power grids by vastly increasing the magnetic potential.

How NASA SOHO observes the Sun

NASA’s SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) is a satellite that was launched on December 2, 1995. It is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) that studies the Sun, its atmosphere and its effects on the Solar System. . It is equipped with 12 scientific instruments such as Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) and others. SOHO takes pictures of the sun’s corona, measures the sun’s surface speed and magnetic fields, and observes the weak corona around the sun.