On Tuesday, astronomers watched as a vast ‘bird wing’ eruption sent waves of superheated plasma surging across the sun’s northern hemisphere.
At over 600,000 miles long (one million km), the filament of solar material was more than twice as long as the distance from the Earth to the moon.
Now, scientists predict that part of this filament eruption could hit Earth tomorrow.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, aurora chaser Jure Atanackov predicted that the full force of this eruption could trigger a severe or even extreme geomagnetic storm, the highest level on official rating systems.
Stunning video recorded by NASA‘s solar observation satellites shows the moment that filaments of plasma 75 times larger than Earth peeled away from the sun in a pair of sweeping ‘wings’.
Most of the material was shot out of the sun’s north pole, so it will mostly avoid Earth.
However, astronomers say that Earth will probably receive a glancing blow from the wake of the passing storm.
That means there is an increased chance of being able to spot the Northern Lights and a risk of disruption to electrical equipment.
Astronomers have detected a ‘bird wing’ solar eruption emerging from the sun on Tuesday, and say it is heading for Earth
Astronomers now warn that the enormous filament eruption could strike Earth with a glancing blow tomorrow (artist’s impression)
Aurora chasers watching the eruption were shocked by its sheer size, with one saying it could cause a G5 or ‘extreme’ geomagnetic storm
Solar filaments are dense ribbons of cooler solar plasma which are suspended above the sun’s surface by powerful magnetic fields.
When these magnetic fields become unstable, they can release the filaments in a violent eruption.
Jake Foster, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told MailOnline: ‘Loops of hot plasma can sprout up from the Sun’s surface, following along its magnetic field lines, and occasionally they break free and shoot off into space at high speeds.’
Sometimes this triggers an event called a coronal mass ejection, a wave of plasma and magnetic fields which is launched into space.
It is the arrival of these coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which trigger geomagnetic storms and enhanced auroral activity on Earth.
As astronomers observed, this is exactly what happened on Tuesday as two huge filaments became unstable and collapsed, triggering a huge CME.
As the filament eruption tore away from the sun’s surface, eagerly-watching aurora chasers were amazed by the sheer scale of the blast.
Mr Atanackov wrote in a post on X that the blast ‘dwarfs all the filament eruptions we have seen recently.’
At over 600,000 miles long (one million km), the filament of solar material was more than twice as long as the distance from the Earth to the moon
Northern Lights photographer Vincent Ledvina dubbed it the ‘bird-wing’ or ‘angel-wing’ eruption
The Met Office predicts that the arrival of the solar eruption could create a chance to see the Northern Lights over Scotland
Likewise, Northern Lights photographer Vincent Ledvina said: ‘Not sure what to call this eruption, maybe the “bird-wing” or “angel-wing” event? Either way, it is truly something to witness! Look at how large the blast is off the Sun’s northern hemisphere.’
In her solar forecast, space weather physicist Dr Tamitha Skov reported a ‘massive dual filament launch that could give Earth a glancing blow.’
When a filament eruption escapes the solar surface, it leaves behind a cool ‘scar’ on the sun, which shows up as a dark region in solar imaging cameras.
While it initially appeared that most of the blast had been directed northward, away from Earth, the remains scars suggested that some of the eruption could be coming our way.
Dr Skov said: ‘You’d think this was just going northward. But, believe it or not, the scar from this thing as it lifted off the sun makes us think that maybe there’s part of this that’s Earth-directed.’
It is considered likely that part of the CME or its wake will hit Earth tomorrow, causing a minor geomagnetic storm and lingering effects for a few days.
Mr Foster says: ‘These eruptions are huge collections of high energy solar particles, so when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere they can cause a few different effects.
‘With enough energy, they have the potential to cause a geomagnetic storm, temporarily blocking out radio communications and satellite navigation in certain areas.
Cool regions known as scars left by the filament eruption indicate that some of the coronal mass ejection is heading towards Earth
‘On the more serious end of the scale, they can cause an overload to electrical infrastructure, damaging the power grid and railway lines, and potentially even sparking electrical fires.’
Additionally, as charged particles from the sun arrive, they are channelled towards the poles by the planet’s powerful magnetic fields.
These particles then collide with nitrogen and oxygen in the air, transferring their energy into the gases and causing them to glow, in an effect we see as the aurora.
Since the Earth’s magnetic fields protect us extremely well from these charged particles, auroras are only normally visible close to the magnetic poles.
Although Dr Skov predicts a 20 per cent chance of a major storm occurring, the chances of significant geomagnetic activity are low.
Stephen Dixon, Met Office spokesperson, told MailOnline: ‘A coronal mass ejection could possibly glance the Earth later this evening and could lead to aurora being visible in northern Scotland, though there is low confidence in this.
‘Should it occur, skies are relatively clear, but viewers might need to take a photo with a long exposure.’
SOLAR STORMS PRESENT A CLEAR DANGER TO ASTRONAUTS AND CAN DAMAGE SATELLITES
Solar storms, or solar activity, can be divided into four main components that can have impacts on Earth:
- Solar flares: A large explosion in the sun’s atmosphere. These flares are made of photons that travel out directly from the flare site. Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.
- Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s): Large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun. These clouds can erupt in any direction, and then continue on in that direction, plowing through solar wind. These clouds only cause impacts to Earth when they’re aimed at Earth.
- High-speed solar wind streams: These come from coronal holes on the sun, which form anywhere on the sun and usually only when they are closer to the solar equator do the winds impact Earth.
- Solar energetic particles: High-energy charged particles thought to be released primarily by shocks formed at the front of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. When a CME cloud plows through solar wind, solar energetic particles can be produced and because they are charged, they follow the magnetic field lines between the Sun and Earth. Only charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect Earth will have an impact.
While these may seem dangerous, astronauts are not in immediate danger of these phenomena because of the relatively low orbit of manned missions.
However, they do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.
This photo shows the sun’s coronal holes in an x-ray image. The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields, which when closed can cause the atmosphere to suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections
The damage caused by solar storms
Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.
The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth’s magnetic field.
Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.
When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.
They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.
A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.
This could shut off businesses and homes around the world.
