NOAA says STRONG M-class solar flare set to hit Earth, may generate geomagnetic storm

tech.hindustantimes.com:

There is a solar flare coming that is likely to hit Earth, NOAA has revealed. Solar flares are spewed out by our Sun and can be several times larger than the Earth and cause significant damage through geomagnetic storms. To better understand these solar flares, researchers have successfully replicated them in a laboratory. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasters have alerted that there are chances of a solar flare today itself, SpaceWeather.com reported. The possibility of a solar flare is 40 percent and that too of an M-class intensity.

AR3280, a rapidly developing sunspot, is probably the origin of the impending solar flare. It possesses a beta-gamma magnetic field that is unstable and has the potential for M-class solar flares. Solar flares are categorized into A, B, C, M, and X classes according to their strength. An X-class solar flare is considered the strongest, while an M-class solar flare is the second most powerful.

Active regions on the Sun, usually characterized by sunspot groups and strong magnetic fields, are the typical sites for solar flares. As these magnetic fields undergo changes, they can become unstable and discharge energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation, which manifests as solar flares.

The worrying part is that the sunspot is almost directly facing Earth, SpaceWeather.com added in its report. What effect will it have on Earth? Although Earth's magnetosphere is effective in blocking solar flares, some charged particles manage to penetrate through. These high-energy particles can result in magnetic disruptions referred to as geomagnetic storms or substorms, which can give rise to beautiful auroras, also known as the Northern Lights.

When solar particles collide