The sun has emitted several solar flares in recent days, putting space-weather experts on the lookout for northern lights displays and disruptions in satellite technology.
Solar flares are large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, which could last from minutes to hours, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Each of the solar flares emitted this week were classified within the “X-class,” which denotes the most intense types of flares, according to NASA.
Flares of this magnitude are generally not common, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
The second solar flare to occur on Sunday was classified as a massive X8.1 flare, the strongest in several years, records show.
Since the sudden outburst of electromagnetic energy travels at the speed of light, it can cause signal loss in high frequency communication bands over much of the sunlit side of Earth, according to NOAA. Users could experience loss of contact or major disruptions for a number of minutes to a couple of hours in the affected areas.
Solar flares are often precursors to Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) — a massive burst of solar material and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere.
Northern light displays occur when a solar flare interacts with the atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere.
As the solar flare clashes with the upper atmosphere, it causes the atoms to emit a glow, creating a spectrum of light in the night sky.
Whether the auroras will actually be visible will depend on how the CME arrives, the magnetic orientation of the CME’s magnetic field and how cloudy it is locally.