The most powerful solar storm in almost 20 years is expected to hit Earth on Friday night and the Northern Lights are likely to be visible from across the UK.
Bursts of charged particles, resulting from a series of powerful explosions from the Sun’s surface, are traveling directly towards Earth at about 900 km per second, twice as fast as normal.
Space weather experts expect strong winds to collide with our planet’s magnetic field around 2am UK time on Saturday morning, which could trigger strong auroras at more southern latitudes than normal.
Prof Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told The Telegraph: “We have seen a number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun over the last 48 hours and these appear to be directed directly at us.” .
“The scale of this activity is high, but it is not particularly unusual for the maximum phase of the Sun’s 11-year cycle. But it just so happened that the Earth was in the line of fire this time.”
“Our estimate is that six or seven bursts are piling up on the path from the Sun to the Earth. Space is a mess right now. They’ll probably arrive in the early hours.”
‘The northern lights have the potential to crack’
He added that skies are expected to be clear across much of the UK and those living in the north of England and Scotland will likely be able to see the Northern Lights.
“All of the activity we’re seeing right now is linked to a very, very large sunspot on our Sun called AR3664. “This is a region of high activity on the sun with quite strong magnetic fields,” said Dr. Daniel Brown, professor of astronomy at Nottingham Trent University.
“It’s really big, so big you can even see it with the naked eye if you’re using eclipse glasses. CMEs will have the potential to break up some of the northern lights this weekend.”
The Met Office’s space weather operations center said spells of clear skies overnight could lead to increased visibility for people in the UK, with the possibility of them being seen in the south of England.
Met Office space weather manager Krista Hammond said: “There is a good chance of sightings on Friday night if conditions are right. Aurora visibility may continue throughout Saturday night, but as things stand it is likely to be less widespread than on Friday night, with northern parts of the UK continuing to have the best viewing potential.”
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitors space weather and classified this weekend’s space weather crisis as a “severe” G4 event, the second-highest classification.
The storm has a KP index of eight, which is a category of geomagnetic storms and disruption of the magnetic field that could cause “possible widespread voltage control problems.”
Storm level not seen since 2005
Astronomer Dr. of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Ed Bloomer said a pair of “Class
NOAA’s website says a storm at this level, last seen in 2005, could also cause disruption to high-frequency radio, disruption of satellite navigation for hours, and auroras as low as 45° latitude extending to the Black Sea, Japan and South Korea. France.
“The arrival of CME is very difficult to predict. But even more difficult is the strength of the auroras, the effects on the electrical network, etc. “It’s about estimating the impact,” said Prof Owens.
“Because it all depends on the strength and direction of the magnetic field inside the CMEs, and we have basically no information about that until the CMEs pass near the Earth.”
Technology in space and on Earth may be affected
Astrophysicist Dr., who works as part of the AuroraWatch UK team at Lancaster University. Maria Walach told The Telegraph there could be an aurora across the UK after jets of particles arrived from the Sun at around 3am on Friday night.
“If the weather is clear it will be visible across the UK, particularly in the north,” he said.
“As this CME carries with it particularly fast solar wind speeds (estimated to average around 900 km/h, much faster than the 400 km per second average), we will likely enter a geomagnetic storm that could last a day or two, meaning the aurora could be visible again Sunday night.” There is a possibility.
“This looks like it will be a bigger CME than any other in recent times. Major space weather activities, such as geomagnetic storms, have the capacity to impact technology in space and on Earth.
“This can happen in a number of complex ways, depending on the technology you look at.
“Space weather has the potential to affect rail signals and other technology, but there is no need to panic as the UK Met Office is constantly reviewing risks and contacting infrastructure providers where needed.
“Space Weather is on the UK government’s risk register and is therefore monitored so action can be taken when necessary.”
The Met Office does not expect any disruption to infrastructure in the UK.