In United States, the Space Weather Prediction Center under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday issued a geomagnetic storm watch for October 30 following a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun late Thursday night. The CME will take more than two days to cross the sun-Earth divide and could hit the planet on October 30.
Coronal mass ejection is one of the biggest eruptions from the Sun's surface that can contain a billion tons of matter accelerated to several million miles per hour into space. This solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. When a really strong CME blows past the Earth, it can damage the electronics in our satellites and disrupt radio communication networks on Earth.
"A G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for October 30. In response to the Coronal Mass Ejection from Region 2887 associated with the X1 flare, a G2 (Moderate) watch is in effect for 31 October," the agency said in a statement.
As the Sun wakes up in its new solar cycle, the massive ball of fire hurtled dangerous flares towards Earth. The Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the image of the Coronal Mass Ejection in which the Sun released X1-class flares.