'Severe' geomagnetic storm hits Earth on Thursday, with auroras possible as far away as California and Alabama

An enormous mass of charged solar particles will impact our planet on Thursday (October 10), likely triggering a “severe” G4-class geomagnetic storm a warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.

Storms of this magnitude can disrupt power grids, knock satellites off course, disrupt GPS navigation and damage “critical infrastructure technology,” NOAA warns.

The geomagnetic storm will do it too Northern lights visible at much lower latitudes than usual. According to NOAA, the Northern Lights could become visible on Thursday “over much of the northern half of the country and perhaps even as far north as Alabama to Northern California.”

The solar eruption known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), according to NOAA, is the result of a powerful solar flare that erupted from our star on the evening of October 8th. The torch has been categorized as a class X 1.8 solar flareThis is the most powerful type of solar flare the sun can emit.

Solar flares occur when tangled magnetic field lines on the sun force themselves back into place. Some outbursts may be accompanied by CMEs – fast-moving clumps of plasma that can take several days to reach Earth if our planet happens to be within the line of fire. When impacting our planet, CMEs can cause severe disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field known as geomagnetic storms, resulting in technical disruptions and extensive auroras. NOAA measures geomagnetic storms on a scale of 1 to 5, with G1 storms classified as “mild” and G5 storms classified as “extreme.”

Related: 32 breathtaking photos of northern lights from space

There is little that individuals can do to prepare for the upcoming G4 geomagnetic storm. However, auroral hunters are advised to get as far away from city lights as possible to have the best chance of seeing the northern lights. You don't need any special equipment to see the northern lights, but viewing them with a phone camera can make the colors stand out even more than they appear to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, solar flares, CMEs and auroras become more common Solar maximumthe peak of the Sun's approximately 11-year activity cycle. The solar maximum of the current cycle was originally predicted for 2025, but some scientists suspect this could happen right now. The researchers will only know exactly when the maximum is reached and solar activity decreases again.

In addition to Earth, there is also another object in the incoming CME's line of fire: the bright comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)which is currently making its closest approach to the sun in 80,000 years. Therefore, there is a possibility that the comet's tail could be blown away or bent by the solar eruption spaceweather.comas was the case when a CME hit the horned “Devil Comet” 12P/Pons-Brooks Earlier this year. Sky watchers won't know whether comet C/2023's tail survived until it emerges from the sunlight later this weekend.

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