The Sun Blasted Out a Huge Flare and CME; We Could See Auroras on Halloween

By Nancy Atkinson October 29, 2021
The Sun Blasted Out a Huge Flare and CME; We Could See Auroras on Halloween

Auroral fireworks for Halloween? It just might happen, depending on where you live.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this movie of a solar flare — as seen in the bright flash at the Sun’s lower center — on Oct. 28, 2021. Credit: NASA/SDO

On October 28, 2021 the Sun blasted a “significant” X1 solar flare – the most intense class of flares. While the flare itself hit Earth eight and a half minutes later, an accompanying Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was also released. The slower moving CME arrives on October 30, and when it hits Earth’s magnetic field, a strong geomagnetic storm is possible on the 30th and possibly into the 31st  as Earth continues to pass through the CME's wake.

This should make for spectacular auroras in both hemispheres, aurora borealis in the north and the aurora australis in the south.

https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1454107912805105668

https://twitter.com/TheSunToday/status/1453858090684723214

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch for October 30th.  In the past, this type of flare has produced auroras visible to the unaided eye as far south as Illinois and Oregon in the US, typically 50° geomagnetic latitude, according to SpaceWeather.com.

Via the Space Weather Prediction Center.

X-class denotes the most intense flares (smallest flares are A-class) and the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. Flares that are classified X10 or stronger are considered unusually intense, but X1 is still considered a major flare.

The Sun has been active lately (see aurora imagery from the CME that reached Earth in mid-October) as you can see from this movie from SDO data, processed by Seán Doran.

https://twitter.com/_TheSeaning/status/1453869469453983751

Have questions about the various classes of solar flares and what they mean for Earth? Here's an excellent guide to solar flares from NASA:

https://youtu.be/oOXVZo7KikE

Lead image caption: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare — as seen in the bright flash at the Sun’s lower center — on Oct. 28, 2021. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized here in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com