News A Solar Storm Is Expected to Hit Earth on Thursday, Bringing the Northern Lights

The sun has been one active star over these last few months. And this week is no different as NASA captured a photo of a brand new solar flare on Sunday.

Thanks to that solar flare, the space agency is now predicting a solar storm will reach Earth at some point early Thursday morning.

Yes, a solar storm sounds highly terrifying, but have no fear, earthlings: it will have little to no effect on humans, other than bringing us all stunning views of the Northern Lights.

You see, when the sun experiences its own solar storm, it emits superheated plasma. That plasma is known as a coronal mass ejection (CME). That CME can then trigger a geomagnetic storm, and that can in turn cause the Earth’s Northern Lights to light up even brighter than usual.

“[CMEs] are huge explosions of magnetic field and plasma from the Sun’s corona,” the Space Weather Prediction Center explained. “When CMEs impact the Earth’s magnetosphere, they are responsible for geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.”

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