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This Christmas Day , the skies may add to the festive cheer with a video display of auroras , thanks to a blob of charged particles enroute to surrender a " glancing blow " to our satellite following a powerful M8.9solar solar flare .
High - latitude domain in the U.S. , including northern Montana , Minnesota and North Dakota , may witness aurorean display late on Wednesday ( Dec. 25 ) , according togeomagnetic tempest watchissued by the Space Weather Prediction Center , part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) .
Northern lights could light up the skies over the upper Midwest, if an incoming coronal mass ejection materializes.
The Earth - bound M8.9 solar flare , which the Dominicus spewed yesterday ( Dec. 23 ) from a gravid macula region nominate AR3932 , also unleash a wide pocket of extremely industrious particles and magnetism known as a coronal mass forcing out ( CME ) . This CME is only partially directed at Earth , so NOAA betoken minor G1 storm condition that are unlikely to cause pregnant disruptions to king grids or other decisive substructure .
They are nevertheless sufficient to spark aurora in multiple northern U.S. states . When storms like this reach Earth , most charged particles are deflected by our satellite ’s magnetic domain , but a small portion migrate to the rod and enter the air . There , these particles collide with gases and make stunning display like the break of day this summertime thatwowed observer around the world .
Active sun
short after flare from the sun , the latest M8.9 flare caused a temporary disturbance in radio sign over Africa and the South Atlantic Ocean that live on about 15 second , NOAA said . Three more 1000 - class flare blast into outer space today ( Dec. 24 ) by the same macula region leave to likewise minor radio receiver blackouts over Fiji and Madagascar .
The flare comes during a time period of increased turbulence on the Dominicus , which recentlyreached the peakof an 11 - year natural oscillation of activity . Scientists have keep an eye on more than a dozen macula regions puncturing the sunlight ’s surface right now , a herald of increase solar activity head into the New Year .
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The latest storm also coincided withNASA ’s Parker Solar Probe’srecord - limit closest - ever approachto the sun . Scientists go for a solar flare serendipitously hit the spacecraft during its close advance , which would give solar scientist close - up data that could help explain how sun ’s charged particles are speed up to approximate - light speeds . But NASA wo n’t know how the spacecraft fare during the storm until after it comes back online in the young year .
