Northern States May See Aurora After Powerful Solar Flare Eruption

A sunspot erupted earlier on Sunday, producing an X1.9-class solar flare. The light and X-rays produced passed Earth about 8 minutes later, at the speed of light. Other WRAL Top Stories Look closely at the flare and you'll also see a coronal mass ejection widening outward like a smoke ring. This is a solar belch or sorts, sending tons of charge particles outward. The halo-like shape of that ring tells forecasters at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) that it's heading for Earth, arriving late Monday night into the following morning. When those particles reach Earth and interact with the other atmosphere, aurora can be created. SWPC forecasts indicate a minor geomagnetic storm might be possible. This could produce visible aurora, but this would likely be limited to higher latitudes in the northernmost states and Canada. Severe to extreme geomagnetic storm levels are needed to drive that energy toward the equator into Carolina skies.