\n In addition to creating auroral displays, geomagnetic storms can disrupt communications, the power grid and satellite operations. The Space Weather Prediction Center said it had otified power grid and satellite operators in the US so they could prepare.\n <\/p>\n
\n The British Geological Survey initially believed the current solar activity could lead to a G5, or an extreme geomagnetic storm \u2014 the highest level on the scale. The survey also dubbed Tuesday\u2019s event a \u201ccannibal storm\u201d that disrupted communications and GPS satellite accuracy.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOn Monday, two Coronal Mass Ejections lifted off the sun a few hours apart,\u201d the survey\u2019s geomagnetism team explained. \u201cThe first one was moving more slowly than the second \u2026 and so the second one caught up with the first one and they amalgamated together by the time they reached Earth. Hence, the term \u2018cannibalised,\u2019 as the second one gobbled up the first one.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun\u2019s outer atmosphere. When these outbursts are directed at Earth, they can cause major disturbances of Earth\u2019s magnetic field, resulting in geomagnetic storms.\n <\/p>\n
\n Forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center believe that the arrivals of the first two of three anticipated coronal mass ejections caused Tuesday evening\u2019s auroral display.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOne of them packed a much stronger punch than we would have imagined originally,\u201d said Shawn Dahl, forecaster at the center.\n <\/p>\n
\n When a storm reaches satellites stationed 1 million miles from Earth, forecasters can measure its speed, the strength of the magnetic field and the magnetic orientation, he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIs it pointed opposite Earth, or is it pointed the same as Earth?\u201d Dahl said. \u201cIf it turns opposite Earth, then activity really quickly escalates, and those storm levels can dramatically increase very quickly. That\u2019s what happened last night.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The third solar storm arrived at Earth Wednesday afternoon at 2:17 p.m. ET, with solar wind speeds over 2.1 million miles per hour (950 kilometers per second).\n <\/p>\n
\n But Earth appears to have been struck by a far flanking edge of the storm, meaning most of the magnetic cloud likely missed our planet, according to an update from the center<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Among those feeling the storm\u2019s effects is Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin. The company was expected to launch<\/a> NASA\u2019s Escapade mission<\/a> \u2014 twin satellites set to head on a long journey to Mars \u2014 aboard its New Glenn rocket Wednesday. But the increased solar activity blocked that launch attempt.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cNG-2 Update: New Glenn is ready to launch. However, due to highly elevated solar activity and its potential effects on the ESCAPADE spacecraft, NASA is postponing launch until space weather conditions improve. We are currently assessing opportunities to establish our next launch,\u201d according to a post by Blue Origin<\/a> on social media platform X. The company confirmed on X Wednesday evening that another launch attempt is now scheduled for Thursday.\n <\/p>\n \n A flurry of activity around our sun sparked the storms. Three X-class flares, the most intense type of solar flare, have released from the sun this week, followed by a series of coronal mass ejections.\n <\/p>\n \n The recent surge in activity stems from an active region of sunspots on the sun called AR 14274, according to Ryan French, a solar physicist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cAR 14274 still has the potential to produce more X-class solar flares,\u201d French said. \u201cHowever, the region is now rotating away from us, so any eruptions from future flares are increasingly less likely to hit us as the days pass.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n An X-class flare released Tuesday created a large solar particle storm, the largest since 2005, according to the British Geological Survey. Tuesday\u2019s solar activity also created the largest measured geoelectric field since the survey\u2019s records began in 2012.\n <\/p>\n \n Disturbances in Earth\u2019s magnetic field can reach the ground, which triggers electricity in rocks and essentially creates an electric field in the ground. \u201cThis is usually tiny on the order of 0.001 Volt per kilometer but during geomagnetic storms it can be much larger,\u201d the survey team noted.\n <\/p>\n \n On Tuesday, experts documented a value of 3.5 volts per kilometer in the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland, an unusually large number that \u201chas not been recorded before,\u201d according to the geological survey\u2019s team.\n <\/p>\n \n Large geoelectric fields can interfere with transformers and may even cause them to shut down or overheat.\n <\/p>\n \n The sun has an 11-year cycle of waxing and waning activity. Heliophysicists believe the peak, called solar maximum<\/a>, occurred in October 2024.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cAlthough we are still in a period of heightened solar activity, we are entering the decay phase of the solar cycle,\u201d French said. \u201c(Although) sunspots and solar flares are fewer during this time, this is the period where the strongest solar flares typically occur.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Increased solar activity causes auroras that dance around Earth\u2019s poles, known as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, and southern lights, or aurora australis. When the energized particles from coronal mass ejections reach Earth\u2019s magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere to create different colored lights in the sky.\n <\/p>\n \n Even if the colorful displays don\u2019t seem apparent to the naked eye, sensors in cameras and cell phone cameras can pick them up.\n <\/p>\n \n For those in areas with clear dark skies, keep an eye out for auroras, which could dip over the US. In the UK, sky-gazers in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland had a good chance of seeing them as well, according to the survey.\n <\/p>\n \n The last G5 storm to hit Earth occurred in May 2024<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The storm was a historic one, but fortunately it didn\u2019t reach the level of the Carrington Event of 1859, which caused telegraph stations to spark and catch fire and remains the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded.\n <\/p>\n \n During the May 2024 geomagnetic storm, tractor company John Deere reported that some customers reliant on GPS for precision farming experienced a disruption. But for the most part, power grid and satellite operators kept satellites in order and properly in orbit and managed the buildup of intense geomagnetic currents on the grid systems.\n <\/p>\n \n Before May 2024, the last G5 storm to hit Earth occurred in 2003, resulting in power outages in Sweden and damaging power transformers in South Africa.\n <\/p>\n \n The recent outburst of activity reminds French of a severe geomagnetic storm that reached Earth in October 2024<\/a>. Tuesday night\u2019s storm clocked in as third strongest solar storm of the current solar cycle, French said.\n <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-11-12t222514z-81129114-rc2avhadgeln-rtrmadp-3-italy-weather.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gettyimages-2245745944.jpg\")
<\/p>\n