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On Tuesday, astronomers looked on in astonishment as a massive 'bird wing' solar flare detached itself from the Sun's surface.
With a length of 600,000 miles (one million kilometers), a direct impact from this strand of superheated plasma and charged particles would be significant. might have triggered a significant or even intense geomagnetic storm.
Fortunately, scientists have now verified that Earth narrowly avoided, at most suffering only a slight impact from, the huge geomagnetic storm early Friday morning.
In this amazing video produced by the European Space Agency (ESA), you can observe how Earth managed to avoid a direct impact.
This indicates that there won’t be any disruptions to electronic devices or radio communication services caused by solar storms.
Nevertheless, once the aftermath of the filament eruption sweeps past our planet, experts suggest there might be a slight possibility of catching a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis over the UK on Friday evening.
When charged particles from the sun hit the atmosphere, they pass energy to the gas molecules, making them emit light which manifests as the aurora.
Based on the Met Office's space weather prediction, a glancing impact might allow some of that remarkable light show to be seen as far south as certain areas in Scotland.
The current cause of slight geomagnetic activity above our planet is known as a filament eruption.
In contrast to solar flares that release intense amounts of high-energy radiation, filament eruptions consist of massive waves of solar particles.
Dr. Sean Elvidge, a specialist in space environments from the University of Birmingham, explained to MailOnline: "Eruptions of filaments, which are also called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), happen because of instability within the sun's magnetic field."
These instabilities cause significant ejections of magnetic field configurations and plasma into space. The intensity of these outbursts varies considerably in terms of both velocity and scale, with some moving away from the source at speeds approaching 3000 kilometers per second.
When an eruption occurs, strands of colder plasma get trapped above the Sun's surface due to strong magnetic forces.
When looking at pictures of the sun, you can observe these filaments as elongated, dark areas moving across its surface.
However, when the magnetic fields become weaker, these filaments might abruptly snap loose in a fierce outburst.
It is the arrival of these sequences of materials within the CMEs that causes geomagnetic storms and increased auroral activity on Earth .
On Tuesday, solar observation satellites recorded the instance when two massive filaments detached from the Sun’s northern region during an eruption, propelling a coronal mass ejection outward into space.
As the filaments detached from the sun, they entered a sprawling formation that looked like enormous bird wings extending across space.
On a post on X, aurora photographer Vincent Ledvina commented, "'I'm not quite sure how to describe this outbreak; perhaps I should refer to it as the 'bird-wing' or 'angel-wing' phenomenon? Regardless of what we call it, witnessing this spectacle is indeed remarkable!'"
In the European Space Agency’s solar wind prediction chart, you can observe when the 'winged bird' solar flare occurs, where dark yellow and red zones indicate sections with higher concentrations of plasma and stronger magnetic fields.
As demonstrated in this video, the majority of the material expelled from the Sun was projected from its northern hemisphere without posing a threat to Earth, represented here as a blue dot.
Juha-Pekka Luntama, who leads the space weather office at ESA, informed MailOnline: "The prediction for this CME indicated that it could skim past us today, but it’s more probable that it will mostly glide over and ahead of our planet."
'Thus, the anticipated effect would be minimal or nonexistent altogether.'
Nevertheless, a limited portion of solar matter has reached Earth, ensnaring our planet within the trail of stronger magnetic fields.
Professor Elvidge suggests that this scenario would amount to, at worst, a 'slight brush with the periphery of the occurrence,' but the scale of such an encounter makes significant disruptions improbable.
Krista Hammond, a space weather specialist from the Met Office, informed MailOnline: "Given the position of this event on the Sun, most of the material will likely bypass our planet."
This indicates that even if we experience a slight impact from the eruption, it would be minimal—a mild geomagnetic disturbance at best—which won’t cause substantial effects.
Moderately heightened geomagnetic activity might continue over the next day, however, this should subside once the impact of the CME subsides.
The Met Office suggests that there is only a slight possibility of the aurora being observable as far south as northern Scotland and regions with comparable geomagnetic latitudes, provided that viewing conditions are favorable.
However, if the complete impact of the CME had struck Earth, the outcome might have been quite distinct.
Professor Elvidge states: "A direct hit from the CME might have caused more intense geomagnetic disturbances, potentially leading to interruptions in power supply networks, disruptions to GPS services, and heightened satellite drag, thus increasing the likelihood of satellite crashes."
At times, the currents produced when Coronal Mass Ejections collide with Earth’s magnetic field can briefly disrupt radio transmissions and satellite positioning in specific regions.
In extreme scenarios, these currents can be so powerful that they overload electrical infrastructure, damaging the power grid and railway lines, and even sparking fires.
However, events on that scale are extremely rare and have only hit Earth a handful of times in recorded history, such as during the 1859 Carrington Event.
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