A strong solar explosion has hit Earth this week, warned by the Space Weather Forecast Center (SWPC) under the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA said the CME launch - a giant stream of matter and magnetism released from the Sun's sunflower ring - will hit Earth from morning to noon on December 9.
This CME is related to an M8.1 solar flare, which is likely to increase geometeorological activity and create a G3 Category 3 geostorm, the third level on the weather scale.
Geometeorological storms at this level are considered " strong", which can cause some minor impacts on technology such as satellite interference or radio communication disruption.
Recently, the activity of the Sun has increased sharply. In October 2024, the Sun's magnetic field reached the peak of the 11-year cycle, when the Sun's outbursts appeared most densely. Despite the extreme, the activity of the Sun continues to be vibrant, causing many Category and aurora storms on Earth.
At the end of November, Airbus warned that the Sun storm could distort important flight control data and must quickly release a software update to fix it. Also this month, strong outbreaks created spectacular auroras in many regions of the world, even reaching the southern United States such as Florida. In December, SWPC continued to issue a geometeorological storm warning.
Geostories are often the most noticeable because they can disrupt communication systems, GPS and power grids.
The intensity of the geostationary storm is classified according to the G1 scale from G1 to G5, in which G1 is light, G5 is extreme. The G-stage is based on the Kp-9 index (0-9), which measures the Earth's magnetic field. G1 - G2 storms occur regularly throughout the year, while G5 is extremely rare and has the biggest impact.
Widespread technological and aurora disruption often occurs when the storm reaches level G3 ( Strength) and becomes more severe at level G4 (very strong). G3 and G4 storms are not too rare, especially during the period of active solar activity.
The strongest geological storm in more than 20 years appeared in May 2024. This G5 storm creates brilliant auroras around the world, even in places where auroras are rarely seen.
The event also caused many incidents on the ground: High-voltage power lines were cut off, transformers heated up, and some flights across the Atlantic had to change direction due to concerns about communication and routes.
Another extremely strong solar explosion occurred at the end of October 2003, when a series of super typhoons consecutively hit Earth, affecting the grid, aviation and the operation of spacecraft. Some of the storms in this period reached level G5, creating widespread aurora.
Most recently, on the morning of December 8, a strong Sun explosion caused an R3 level road signal loss, affecting Australia and part of Southeast Asia. The outbreak caused a high- frequency radio outage for about an hour, affecting the operation of satellites, GPS signals and communications used in aviation, maritime and many other essential services.
