Are you looking for Auroral fireworks for Halloween It could happen depending on where you live.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this video of a solar flare, as seen in the bright flash at Suns lower center on October 28, 2021. Credit to NASA/SDO
The Sun released an X1 solar flare, the strongest class of flares, on October 28, 2021. The flare hit Earth 8 and a quarter minutes after it was released. However, a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which came with the flare, also struck Earth. CME, which is slower in moving, arrives on October 30. It hits Earth's magnetic field on October 30th. Strong geomagnetic storms are possible on the 30th or 31st. Earth will continue to pass through CMEs' wake.
This should result in spectacular auroras in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
This week, a massive Solar flare (photon blast) was visible from the Sun. Also, a Coronal Mass Ejection occurred (CME: lots of plasma!) The release was made. The CME arrived tomorrow, and the flare will cause spectacular auroras all over the globe. It reached Earth just 8.5 minutes later. (green line= aurora visible on horizon) pic.twitter.com/S47Iw47aPf Dr. James O'Donoghue (@physicsJ) October 29, 2021
Bright skies and a Halloween celebration! CME from today's X1 flare will hit Earth on October 31st. The Sun's average speed was approximately 1100 km/s. This is about 2.5 million miles per hour. The expected geomagnetic storm is a Kp6-8 (moderate to severe). Good luck Aurora watchers. pic.twitter.com/NrxxXGKyr2 C. Alex Young, Ph.D. (@TheSunToday) October 28, 2021
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued an October 30th G3 (Strong), geomagnetic storm watch. SpaceWeather.com reports that this type of flare has previously produced auroras visible to the naked eye as far south and as far as Oregon, Illinois, and Oregon in the US.
Via the Space Weather Prediction Center.
X-class is the strongest flares. Smaller flares are A class. An X2 flare is twice as intense than an X1, while an X3 flare is three times as strong, etc. Flares classified as X10 or higher are unusually intense. However, X1 is still considered to be a major flare.
Recently, the Sun has been active (see aurora imagery of the CME that reached Earth mid-October). As you can see in this movie from SDO data processed by Sen Doran.
Easy Tyger
This is what a small part of the Sun did 2 days ago.
Many processes and repairs.
Made with data from SDO pic.twitter.com/r1LKUP2P3R Sen Doran (@_TheSeaning) October 28, 2021
Are you unsure about the different types of solar flares? NASA has compiled a comprehensive guide to solar flares:
Caption: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the image below of a solar flare, as seen in the bright flash at Suns lower centre on Oct. 28, 2021. This image is a subset that uses extreme ultraviolet light to highlight the very hot material in flares. It has been colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO
