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Space
Space
Science
Robert Lea

Rare 'backward' sunspot could create supercharged auroras this week

green and yellow auroras in the sky

An outburst from a law-breaking new sunspot could pummel Earth with charged particles and trigger strong geomagnetic storms, potentially causing spectacular light shows in skies over the planet during the coming days. 

The geomagnetic storms will be the result of a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) hurled directly toward Earth by an explosion at a sunspot designated AR3296 that took place at 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 GMT) on Sunday, May 7. Energetic particles from the outburst will arrive at Earth in the early hours of Wednesday (May 10). The same explosion that launched this CME also caused a medium-strength M1.5-class solar flare.

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