‘Christmas storm’ likely after major solar flare

Vibrant northern lights will likely be on display Wednesday

People in the northern hemisphere will be treated to dazzling displays of the aurora borealis on Wednesday, as a coronal mass ejection from the sun brushes up against our planet, according to Russian scientists.

After two weeks of relative inactivity, the sun experienced a class-M flare on Monday, with a magnitude of 8.9, just shy of making it class-X. The flare happened in the sunspot group 3932, which astronomers have been monitoring because it is due to intersect the sun-earth line over the next 5-7 days.

“Part of the coronal mass ejection could clip our planet in the afternoon of December 25,” Mikhail Leus of the ‘Phobos’ weather center in Moscow said Tuesday on his Telegram channel.

“Forecasts show it might result in a G1 or G2 magnetic storm,” he added.

Monday’s flare was at a 40-degree angle from the sun-earth line, Leus explained, which is why the storm will most likely be mild. Its duration has been estimated at 8-10 hours, but it could last for as long as 30.

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In addition to the northern lights, Wednesday’s solar storm may cause some radio disruptions in the high-frequency (HF) band and affect the operation of some satellites. Solar storms also carry a risk of radiation to astronauts in space and people on board high-altitude airplanes.

A X9 flare resulted in a severe geomagnetic storm on October 10. The G4-level event had the potential to disrupt power grids and cause radio blackouts, but ended up being relatively uneventful in terms of technological disturbances. It did cause the northern lights to be observed as far south as the US state of California.