Solar storm heading towards Earth on Sunday: Report

livemint.com:

Spaceweather.com. Two coronal mass ejections (CME) are expected to hit the Earth, said the report. “One CME is definitely heading for Earth, and there might be two.

The first CME left the sun on August 30 following a "canyon of fire" magnetic filament eruption. Although the CME is faint, there is no question it is heading our way. The second CME is less certain to hit Earth but more potent," the report stated.

“Depending on the timing of the impacts and other factors, auroras (northern lights) could appear in northern-tier US states such as New York, Minnesota, and Washington," the report said. Northern lights occur when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth’s magnetic field and causes atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow. The lights appear suddenly and the intensity varies.

The Spaceweather.com report also said that together the coronal mass ejections can lead to geomagnetic storms. It also said that NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has spotted a bright yellow flash leaving the Sun on September 1. In July this year, a solar storm also occurred which gave skygazers in some states along the US-Canada border a faint glimpse of the northern lights.

Northern lights are also known as aurora borealis and are most often seen in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, but an 11-year solar cycle that’s expected to peak in 2024 has the potential to make the lights visible in places farther to the south. Every 11 years, there is a change in the magnetic activity in the Sun, which is called as the solar cycle. The corona, the outer solar atmosphere is structured by strong magnetic fields.