[TWIAR] CNN - Solar blast could spark nighttime fireworks

[Greg Williams]

(CNN) -- An explosion from the sun could soon trigger bright displays of the
Northern and Southern Lights, according to solar scientists.
A powerful Coronal Mass Ejection or CME released a salvo of charged gases
over the weekend, which could buffet the Earth's magnetic field on Monday or
Tuesday, solar scientists predicted.

The high-energy solar winds produced by a CME can generate geomagnetic
storms when they hit Earth, temporarily altering the planet's magnetic field
and creating colorful sky displays known as auroras or the Northern and
Southern Lights.

Instruments onboard the Solar and Heliographic Observatory (SOHO), a joint
NASA-European Space Agency satellite, captured images of the solar flare
that sparked the CME.

Experts say a CME of this size and strength will probably trigger unusually
strong displays of the aurora lights in Canada, Scandinavia and Russia.
There is a good chance, presuming clear weather, that the nighttime
fireworks will be visible in much lower latitudes.

As the CME is not headed directly toward Earth, it is unlikely that the
glancing blow will be strong enough to interrupt satellite communications or
disrupt power grids on Earth.

Researchers classify solar flares using three categories: C is weak, M is
moderate and X is strong. Sunday's salvo is classified as an X-1 flare. The
strongest one in recent memory was an X-6 event that occurred July 14, 2000.