A geomagnetic storm has hit parts of America and experts warn this may run through the weekend, disrupting critical communication infrastructure.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA issued a geomagnetic storm alert early Friday.
The space’ weather prediction came to pass hours sooner than anticipated with parts of the US experiencing it by late afternoon, Friday.
NOAA links its cause to a large complex sunspot cluster that is 16 times the diameter of earth warning of additional activity from the region.
A Severe Geomagnetic Storm is Likely possibly as early as later today and continuing through the weekend; exact timing remains somewhat uncertain. At least seven earth directed Coronal Mass Ejections are in transit.
NOAA in a warning to American citizens
The experts say the world has previously witnessed three severe geomagnetic storms in the solar cycle since 2019, with the last extreme event occurring with the Halloween storms in 2003.
Netizens are awed by the aurora borealis glow and shared their experiences on X. Elon Musk the founder and CEO of Space X said his starlink satellites will weather the storm.
Major geomagnetic solar storm happening right now.Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure,but holding up so far.
Elon Musk on X
Northern lights (Aurora borealis) Images shared by Netizens on X Sat 11th May 2024
NOAA describes a geomagnetic storm as a major disturbance of earths magnetosphere and occurs when there is an effective exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding earth.
They result from variations in the solar wind that produces major changes in the currents, plasmas and fields in earth’s magnetosphere.
While they create beautiful aurora, they can also be disruptive and affect navigation systems such as global navigation satellite system and create harmful geomagnetic induced currents in the power grid and pipelines.
These may also lead to voltage control challenges, and paralyse grid systems resulting to their collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage too.