Observers noted that this past weekend the sun staged a powerful solar storm. It sent a surge of charged particles toward Earth, accompanied by a flare that lit up space weather headlines. The event stands as the strongest of its kind since 2005, drawing attention from scientists and skywatchers across Canada and the United States. While it began far from Earth, its effects reached our planet and offered a rare reminder that the Sun still has surprises to share.
On Earth the atmosphere is being bathed by high energy particles riding the solar wind. These particles do not pose a direct danger to people on the ground, but they can disrupt satellites, GPS signals, and space missions in low Earth orbit. For everyday devices, the storm can trigger temporary glitches in mobile networks and data services, with some impacts lingering into the next day. Engineers and operators keep a close watch on these space weather shifts to minimize disruption.
Even so, the storm also paints the night sky with the aurora borealis. When the charged particles collide with the upper atmosphere, they excite atoms that glow in greens, pinks and violets. In Canada and the northern United States, observers can see curtains of light ripple across clear skies on dark nights. For the best view, pick a sheltered spot far from city lights and give the sky at least an hour of darkness after midnight when the atmosphere is most active.
What is a solar storm? It happens when the Sun sends out bursts of radiation and plasma into space. As these particles reach Earth, they interact with the magnetosphere near the poles, releasing energy that appears as the aurora and as geomagnetic activity. The result is a natural sky show plus a set of space weather effects that can touch power grids and communications infrastructure. In short, a solar storm is a space weather event with visible beauty and real consequences.
Fun fact: In 1972 a solar storm disrupted long-distance telephone service in Illinois. The incident highlighted the vulnerability of some critical links to space weather. Since then forecasting and protective measures have improved, and the grid and communications networks in North America include safeguards to reduce risk during such events.
Watch a loop of the solar storm below: