A SOLAR flare could hit Earth this week sparking a geomagnetic solar storm.
Space experts think a solar flare that just erupted from the Sun could hit Earth on June 5 or 6.
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The experts at SpaceWeather.com explained: “Yesterday, a magnetic filament on the sun erupted, hurling a faint CME into space.
“NOAA forecasters say it could hit Earth’s magnetic field on June 5th or 6th.
“Even weak CME strikes can cause geomagnetic storms, so there is a chance of minor G1-class storms when the CME arrives.”
A CME is a type of solar flare called a coronal mass ejection, which is a huge expulsion of plasma from the Sun’s outer layer, called the corona.
This mass ejection of particles from the Sun travels through space and the Earth uses its magnetic field to protect us from it.
Each solar storm that hits Earth is graded by severity and this one is only expected to be a “G1-class” if it does hit.
This means it could cause weak power grid fluctuations and have a small impact on satellite communications.
A G1 storm can also confuse migrating animals that rely on the Earth’s magnetic field for a sense of direction, including birds and whales.
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One good thing about solar storms is that they can produce very pretty natural light displays like the Northern Lights.
Those natural light displays are called auroras and are examples of the Earth’s magnetosphere getting bombarded by solar wind, which creates the pretty green and blue displays.
The Earth’s magnetic field helps to protect us from the more extreme consequences of solar flares but it can’t stop all of them.
Last month, a solar flare “side-swiped” Earth and ended up causing radio blackouts over the Atlantic Ocean and Europe.
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