The sun continues its hurling out solar flares. On Sunday, it hurled out an X-class solar flare, the strongest type of solar flare, signalling its dynamic nature. The dramatic eruption originated from sunspot region 3,912, peaking at 4:06 AM. EST (0906 GMT) on December 8. Accompanying the flare was a coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive outpouring of magnetic fields and plasma from the sun’s atmosphere.
While CMEs, also known as solar storms, can cause geomagnetic disturbances and spark vibrant auroras when they interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, experts predict only mild effects from this event. According to Space Weather physicist Tamitha Skov, Earth may experience a glancing blow from the CME.
“The solar storm launched will graze Earth to the west. Sadly, the coming fast solar wind streams might deflect the structure even further to the west. Expect only mild impacts by midday December 11,” Skov shared in a post on X.
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