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Earth poised for another major solar storm this WEEK creating magnificent auroras - as NOAA gives 60% chance of radio blackouts
Earth could be hit by another powerful solar storm this week that is predicted to trigger radio blackouts and incredible northern light displays.
Earlier this month, the sun unleashed the most powerful streams of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), in 20 years, causing communication disruptions worldwide.
The sunspot that caused the chaos has swung back around and released a powerful flare toward Earth's region on Monday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a 60 percent chance of radio blackouts on Tuesday and throughout the rest of the week.
The sun (pictured) emitted 17 small solar flares on Monday and one major X2.9 flare which is the largest class ranking
NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch on May 11 when the same sunspot was smashing our planet with dozens of energized streams of plasma.
A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet's magnetic field.
NOAA's alert was the first given since 2005 when Earth was hit with the highest dose of radiation in a half-century.
The unusual event earlier this month disrupted GPS, power grids, farming equipment and satellites in orbit - and experts are monitoring Monday's flare in preparation of the same issues.
The sunspot, labeled AR3664, has released 17 flares this week, but the strongest has captured attention worldwide.
'I have not seen an explosion like this in my 40 years of observing the sun,' Amateur astronomer Michael Karrer, from Austria told SpaceWeather.
'So fast, so far out into space! It was gigantic,' he said.
Sunspot AR3664 is currently not facing directly at Earth, but data shows it will move in view by the end of the week and could unleash solar storms toward out planet.
While the storms are not expected to reach levels seen earlier this month, they are expected to cause a level three (R3) radio blackout that may last from just minutes to hours and affect GPS systems and radio communication.
GPS systems are disrupted because the radiation emitted from the solar flare hits the magnetic sphere surrounding Earth, causing fluctuations in the ionosphere.
The ionosphere is a layer in the upper atmosphere that absorbs and reflects signals during geomagnetic storms, causing static and disruptions in the signals received by GPS systems.
Auroras are also expected to spread across northeast Canada tonight, although no official forecasts related to the solar storm have been released.
The US could be impacted by the loss of cell phone communication, GPS signals and hour-long blackouts as a result of the solar flares. Pictured: Filtered image of the sun's solar flare from Milano, Italy
The flare first came from the old sunspot region AR3664, the same location as the May 10th storm, marking the first of its kind in 21 years. Pictured: Active region of the sun emitting solar flares
The sunspot first ejected solar flares on May 10 before it rotated away, but its reemergence could mean a powerful geo-storm is heading toward earth.
Earlier this month, a powerful G5 solar storm hit earth, marking the largest outburst in 20 years that was expected to collapse US power grids and cause nationwide blackouts.
There weren't significant impacts caused by the storm, although some farmers reported they lost access to their GPS systems, forcing them to pause operations.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that there weren't more severe problems because they were prepared.
"Simply put, the power grid operators have been busy since yesterday working to keep proper, regulated current flowing without disruption," Shawn Dahl, a service coordinator for the NOAA told NPR at the time.
Other astronomers captured images of the sun emitting the solar flare across the world over the last two days ranging from Arizona, Virginia and countries as far away as Italy and Chile.
Scientists have warned that these extreme eruptions could only be the start of more powerful solar flares that could hit Earth next year, causing the worst geo-storm in 165 years.
In 2019, the sun had zero reported visible sunspots on its surface, but the US National Space Weather Prediction Center estimated there could be up to 115 by July 2025.
Astronomers worry that another extreme solar flare could mirror the 1859 Carrington Event that set telegraph wires on fire, disrupted ships' compasses and cut off communications worldwide.
If an event of that magnitude occurred today, it would have much more widespread implications because of the modern-day reliance on technology for every day operations.
This would mean home medical equipment that requires electricity to function would be rendered useless and without cell phones, there would be no way to call 911 in the case of an emergency.
Major geomagnetic storms can also destroy satellites by causing them to crash into other objects in space.
The 2022 geomagnetic storm was the last severe storm prior to early May, which destroyed up to 40 Starlink satellites worth more than $50 million.