The coronal mass ejection we warned readers about days ago just blasted the Earth with solar plasma from the sun, unleashing one of the most intense geomagnetic storms in years.
According to the National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center, the CME pounded Earth's atmosphere last night with solar plasma in a G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm.
A G3 Warning was in effect until early Friday morning."A severe disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field," an SWPC warned, calling the solar storm "severe." This caused stunning auroras in the US as far south as the Midwest.
People shared stunning photos of the auroras on Twitter.
Lynette Keeshan shared with us a beautiful photo of the northern lights as seen from Genoa last night! Did anyone else manage to see the northern lights? It was quite the solar storm last night! #NEwx pic.twitter.com/CCZJ5IxXKU
— NWS Hastings (@NWSHastings)
The dazzling Northern Lights over Lake George. Thanks for the great pics, Adam Pense.
— Jill Szwed (@JillSzwedWx)
The auroras are a result of the interaction between charged particles from the Sun - a solar storm - and the Earth's atmosphere near the Poles. @WTEN pic.twitter.com/xWl0bKm2IF
Hello northern lights we don’t often get to see them in Iowa, but there’s a strong solar storm and they’re quite visible! This was taken with an iPhone, so it’s fairly visible even to the naked eye! #northernlights pic.twitter.com/Q7QYfMHxmt
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut)
Geomagnetic storm news blog Space Weather said the severe G4 storm was the "most intense in nearly six years."
This solar cycle, Solar Cycle 25, has already been active, exceeding the past cycle.
Well, it's official folks, solar cycle 25 is stronger than it's previous cycle of 24. Solar maximum has not been recognised yet.
— David I Birch (@Climate_Earth20)
(Based off yearly AVG SS numbers). pic.twitter.com/2pMjPknf5k
Even though auroras look stunning, these CMEs have a tremendous impact on modern society.
Recall the federal government started to prepare the nation for a space weather disaster in 2016 with the executive order signed by the Obama administration titled "Coordinating Efforts to Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events."