Powerful magnetic disturbances in Sol’s corona have hurled a large burst of charged particles into space on March 4th. The solar storm erupted from the sunspot AR 1429 at 11:13 p.m. and according to NASA, it should hit Earth on Tuesday night and Wednesday.
The exact size of the coronal mass ejection is yet unknown, but it’s an X1.1-class eruption, one of the strongest measured by astronomers. A direct hit by such an event will cause radio blackouts, cripple satellites, and heat wires worldwide.
Current space forecasts indicate that only the edge of the burst will hit Earth. The Space Weather Prediction Center has stated that the event will spawn a minor radiation storm on Tuesday or Wednesday. More of such storms and coronal mass ejections are expected over this year, and they are even supposed to increase, as Sol is hitting the end of an 11-year cycle when its magnetic fields become increasingly disruptive.
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