coronal mass ejection

Just when we thought that the solar disturbance on the Sun might be slowing down due to the lack of any Earth-directed activity in over a week, our planet witnessed the most terrifying solar storm strike of the year 2023. The severe solar storm was caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit that arrived earlier than expected and sparked a G4-class geomagnetic storm on Earth. It should be noted that this is only the second time in two years that a solar storm of this category has been seen. The storm engulfed a massive…

Earth has been continuously bombarded by solar storms since the turn of the year and not a single week has gone by without one incident or the other of solar particles hitting our atmosphere. We have seen multiple X-class solar flare eruptions, G3-class solar storms and super-charged CME clouds and solar winds wreaking havoc on our planet. Recently, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have revealed that a strong CME sparked a terrifying G4 Geomagnetic storm.According to a report by…

A few days ago, several astronomers warned about the high number of magnetic filaments present on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. These looping structures are filled with plasma and magnetic fields and they are set off randomly causing big explosions on the surface of the Sun. And just hours ago, today, April 21, the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted a massive blast in one of the filaments. It was also seen that a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud was also hurled toward our planet. Early predictions…

The coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud which was predicted to hit the Earth yesterday never arrived on time. Instead, a new forecast has revealed that it is likely to strike our planet today, April 21. But this delayed movement of the cloud has now created a complication for us. As per the UK Met Office forecasters, there is a second slow-moving but wide CME cloud which is just behind the first one. And now, both of them can strike the Earth together and create a more powerful solar storm. Further, it also remains to be…

In the last two days, we have been discussing the potential danger of these magnetic filaments which have appeared on the Sun. For the unaware, a magnetic filament is a large stream of plasma and magnetic field structure extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop. They release huge amounts of coronal mass ejections (CME) to cause solar storms on Earth. And one such storm is headed for our planet today, April 20. But that's not all. There is a likelihood that after this preliminary attack, another bigger…

The increase in solar activity is due to the Sun moving closer toward the peak of its Solar Cycle. The Solar Maximum, as it is known, will not be reached till the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. This increased solar activity has resulted in sunspots, solar flares, and CME clouds reaching potentially damaging intensities to the point that they can actually damage our tech infrastructure. To make matters worse, it has also pushed seemingly harmless solar phenomena into destructive forces as well. For example,…

It has been almost a week since the last solar storm hit the Earth. And it was a relatively minor storm that did not really affect us much. The worst was experienced over the Indian Ocean region where a temporary radio blackout was observed. But things are about to change quickly for the worse. NASA has issued a warning over a major solar storm strike on Earth. The initial hit is expected tomorrow, April 19, when glancing blows are expected and on April 20, a massive direct hit has been predicted. If this solar storm…

Quite weirdly, solar disturbances this week have been missing. At the beginning of the week, we were expecting a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud, which failed to hit. And apart from an M-class solar flare eruption, the sunspots have also been relatively stable. But this state of affairs is set to quickly change. There are as many as seven sunspot groups active on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. This is a pretty high number and if any of them turns unstable, it could mean another round of…

The coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud that was forecast to hit the Earth, mercifully missed it by a narrow margin. But it might be too early to celebrate as new sunspots are already developing on the Sun, which can cause more solar storms. At present, there are three major sunspot groups on the Sun, and among them, two are very concerning. These are AR3270 and AR 3271. AR3270 is the ring-shaped sunspot which grew tenfold in just 24 hours and has two dark cores, both larger than the Earth. These sunspots are very unstable…

Yesterday, it was reported that a ring-shaped sunspot group grew 10-folds in just a period of 24 hours and was posing a threat of solar flare eruption for the Earth. But that is a problem for the future. The immediate concern is a giant cloud of coronal mass ejection (CME) which is fast approaching our planet. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has revealed that there is a possibility that it can deliver glancing blows to the Earth and cause a solar storm event today, April 5. Know its possible…