A stealthy solar storm thrashed into Earth late Monday into early Tuesday, according to scientists.
The storm does not appear to have caused significant disruptions but had the potential to enhance the aurora borealis natural light display in some regions and mildly interfere with GPS and other satellite-based technology. The cause of the storm is not known.
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“Something is brewing in the near-Earth solar wind, where enhanced magnetic field and plasma parameters are being detected! We are likely being impacted by a high-speed stream (although we are still below 400 km/s), unclear atm whether a sneaky weak CME is hiding ahead of it,” Erika Palmerio, a scientist at Predictive Science, tweeted.
Something is brewing in the near-Earth solar wind, where enhanced magnetic field and plasma parameters are being detected! We are likely being impacted by a high-speed stream (although we are still below 400 km/s), unclear atm whether a sneaky weak CME is hiding ahead of it! ?? pic.twitter.com/IiTRAVXUXC
— Dr. Erika Palmerio (@erikapal) September 27, 2022
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center initially gauged that the storm was a K5 before updating to a K6, then K7 or greater, Newsweek reported. The K index assesses the power of geomagnetic storms. A K4 is generally regarded as insignificant, but a K9 is considered rare, according to the outlet.
The center reportedly gave the solar storm a K7 warning until 9 a.m. UTC Tuesday, signaling that the solar storm wielded considerable power. A solar storm generally comes from the sun emitting considerable fragments of energy via solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
They have the potential to send electrical charges and magnetic pules barreling toward the Earth at rapid speeds, and they can spark auroras or disrupt modern technology such as satellites and alarms on power grid equipment.
Although it is not clear whether it was connected to the solar storm, some social media users reported seeing auroras Monday night.
No solar storm forcasted. No big kp. But a gift from nature happened even with it clouding over. What a show in Western Labrador #Auroraborealis #nlwx #explorenl #labrador #nature #ShareYourWeather pic.twitter.com/tcA5S7LyTn
— Keith Fitzpatrick ?? (@KeithFitz81) September 27, 2022
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Typically, storms of that caliber are caused by coronal mass ejection, but scientists were struggling to find evidence that a burst of that kind had transpired in this case.
By early Tuesday, the space weather appeared to cool off.
“Solar wind update: The total magnetic field (top panel) briefly reached pretty impressive values (~30 nT) but has since gone down, the solar wind cruises at ~400 km/s, and the solar wind density is back to near-average values (~15 #/cm^3) No storming conditions atm (Kp=4)!,” Palmerio tweeted.
