Earth has just experienced its most powerful geomagnetic storm in more than 20 years after a series of solar storms smashed into our planet. The extraordinary event triggered vibrant aurora displays as far south as Florida and caused power grid irregularities as well as temporary satellite issues.
The prolonged disturbance to Earth's magnetic field, which lasted from Friday (May 10) to the early hours of Monday (May 13), started when at least five solar storms, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), slammed into our planet's protective field one after the other. These CMEs were launched into space last week by solar flares from a single, massive sunspot, named AR3664, which is more than 15 times wider than Earth. A majority of these flares were X-class — the most powerful type of surface explosions the sun is capable of producing.
