Dark plasma explosion threatens Earth with powerful solar storm

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning Monday that the plasma blast could cause “power grid disruptions,” potentially disrupting radios, aviation communications and satellite operations when the blast’s impact reaches Earth by Friday.

A NASA video, captured by its Solar Dynamics Observatory, showed a dark cloud of cold solar flare exploding in the form of “black smoke” rushing over the surface of the sun.

A 2023 study found that “cool,” low-temperature solar flares produce “higher peak frequencies of gyrosynchrotron emission,” the exact form of radiation responsible for the flare’s intense, destructive radio emissions.

NOAA said there is a 60 percent chance of more mid-level solar flares occurring over the next 24 hours, with a 15 percent chance of more extreme X-class flares, which could cause radio blackouts around the world.

The latest “cold” solar flare, an M-class, erupted from a sunspot region called AR3757 late Sunday.

Solar flares are divided into 4 categories according to their intensity: X-class flares are the most intense, followed by M, C, and the weaker B.

Class X and M emissions radiate energy powerful enough to affect Earth, where their electromagnetic pulses can cause communications and power outages.

Experts have warned that Earth is set to face more severe solar storms next year.

The sun has not yet reached “solar maximum,” the most active point in its recurring solar cycle, Smithsonian astrophysicist Dr. Jonathan McDowell told the Daily Mail in May.

The sun is expected to reach its “maximum” in the summer of next year: July 2025.

“We could have much bigger storms in the next year or two,” McDowell said.

The number of sunspots visible on the sun’s surface was virtually zero during the 2019 “solar minimum,” but at the next maximum in July 2025, there could be as many as 115 sunspots, according to forecasts from the US National Space Weather Prediction Center.

While the 11-year solar cycle only increases the total radiation emitted by the Sun by a small 0.1%, this excess is largely concentrated in sunspot activity.

Source: Daily Mail