Massive solar flare could bring stunning aurora views on Earth

By Dean Murray via SWNS

Aurora watchers could be in for a treat after the Sun blasted off a huge X-class flare this week.

The Sunspot region AR3784 unleashed an X-class solar flare on Wednesday, Aug. 14, which is the most powerful.

Strong solar flares like this can cause coronal mass ejections (CME); explosions of plasma and magnetic field that can cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.

These storms can trigger spectacular displays of aurora as the Earth's magnetosphere is disturbed by the solar wind.

However, while the storms create beautiful aurora, they also can disrupt navigation systems, radio communications and affect the power grid.

The Sun's activity was observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft. Its mission is to study the Sun’s dynamics to "increase understanding of the nature and sources of solar variability".

SDO documents the outer atmosphere of the Sun - called the corona - as well as hot flare plasma.

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