A large solar flare erupted from the Sun earlier today, launching a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. This plasma ‘cloud’ is expected to pass Earth in 2 to 3 days, potentially causing increased nighttime auroras. No major effects on Earth are expected.
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The solar flare occurred at about 05:05 CET today, and the resulting CME was detected by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument on board the ESA/NASA Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.
The solar flare was categorised by scientists as an ‘X-class’ flare; these are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.
If a CME is associated with a flare, the arrival of the CME at Earth can trigger a geomagnetic storm. For the CME detected this morning, which is expected to arrive around 7 or 8 March, no major geomagnetic impacts are expected due to the angle of approach of the cloud of plasma particles toward the Earth. ย
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“We had another significant solar event early this morning. While an X-flare is considered ‘large,’ the geomagnetic impact is expected to be only minor to moderate, as the travelling CME is expected to mostly miss the Earth,” said Juha-Pekka Luntama, Head of Space Weather at ESA’s Space Situational Awareness programme office.
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“In fact, there is already some increase in the flow of energetic particles from the Sun toward the Earth due to an earlier, but smaller ‘M-class’, solar flare; both these are part of a continuing trend of increased solar activity.”
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It is important to monitor, track and assess space weather events such as solar flares.
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Such events are more than capable of affecting space-based telecommunications, broadcasting, weather services and navigation through to power distribution and terrestrial communications, especially at northern latitudes.
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