Over the weekend, Earth was struck by a geomagnetic storm, which shocked scientists because, unlike other solar storms, it didn’t appear to originate from a solar flare. Usually, these storms occur as a result of large explosions on the surface of the sun, which are called solar flares. These flares themselves are caused by the tangling, crossing, or reorganization of the star’s magnetic field lines.
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Within minutes of the explosion, solar flares charge up and heat particles on the sun to millions of degrees, creating a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to X-rays and gamma rays.
The most recent solar storm occurred during a rare alignment of five planets, giving photographers an excellent opportunity to photograph them against the bright auroras that often appear during these space weather events.
Since the storm happened this weekend, astronomers now believe the event occurred as a result of a co-rotating interaction region (CIR), a phenomenon much rarer than a solar flare.
CIRs are created when two solar winds of different speeds meet, as the faster winds then begin to catch up with the slower ones.
This CIR caught scientists by surprise when it came about without the usual signs of a geomagnetic, usually heralded by a coronal mass ejection (CME).
One of the most powerful forms of a solar storm, a CME, occurs when the sun ejects a cloud of charged particles and electromagnetic oscillations from its atmosphere.
When CME is aimed at Earth, a clearly observed effect is that the solar storm amplifies the aurora borealis and australis, the natural light shows generated when particles from the solar wind excite atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing them to glow.
According to experts at SpaceWeather.com, the solar storm managed to “open a rift in our planet’s magnetosphere,” when the CIR hit Earth.
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This solar storm hit Earth just a week after NASA issued a warning, as a sunspot nearly three times the size of Earth continues to face the planet.
Sunspots are areas on the sun’s surface that appear darker than their surrounding surfaces and can span hundreds of millions of miles.
These regions are formed by magnetic disturbances in the photosphere – the lowest layer of the sun’s atmosphere – with these disturbances exposing the cooler layers of the star below.
Solar activity tends to follow 11-year cycles, with solar activity in each building peaking at which the star’s magnetic poles flip, followed by a taper before the next cycle begins.
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Solar storms often generate stunning aurora light shows at higher latitudes by affecting the Earth’s magnetic field.
The aurora, also known as the aurora borealis, are natural light shows caused by the solar wind disrupting Earth’s magnetosphere.
Charged particles—mainly electrons and protons—precipitate in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and excite it, causing it to glow.
The resulting undulating patterns often resemble light curtains following the lines of force of the Earth’s magnetic field, usually shining in shades of green and pink.