New sunspot sparks fears of terrifying solar storm on Earth

A solar storm is heading for Earth today and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Weather Service has issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch for today, September 3, 2023. On this day, Earth may experience a G1 level geomagnetic storm, the mildest on the 1-5 scale. While this geomagnetic storm could cause some aurora displays and minor disruptions in electrical grids, navigation, and communication systems, it is not expected to be a severe event, according to spaceweather.com

In just a few hours, India's first-ever space mission to study the Sun and the space weather, Aditya-L1, will take off. Once it completes its long journey to its destination of the L1 Lagrange point, it will begin observing the Sun using the seven payloads that will collect data from it. Apart from observing the Sun, its corona, and its dynamic patterns, it will also study space weather, in particular the effect of solar winds and coronal mass ejection (CME) in causing solar storms. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial, as it contains the destructive potential to damage all satellites in space. In fact, it did exactly that in February 2022 when Elon Musk's SpaceX lost 40 of its Starlink satellites to solar storms.

Have you ever witnessed a fire in the shape of a ring in the sky? Well, that spectacular phenomenon happens because of a solar eclipse and one is coming very soon. According to NASA, an annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun while it's at its farthest point from our planet. This unique positioning results in the Moon appearing slightly smaller than the Sun, leaving a radiant "ring of fire" around the edges of the solar disk.

Auroras, commonly known as Northern Lights, are a rare sky phenomenon that result in stunning streaks of colourful light in the sky near the polar regions. However, there are instances where these flashing lights have also appeared across the world, especially if the solar storm that causes them is of strong intensity. Recently, people on a flight to Europe bore witness to a mesmerizing aurora that was snapped by a user, and the social media post has gone viral since then.

The last ten days have been quite uneventful in terms of Earth-directed solar activity. This was strange given there are still 6 sunspot regions present on our planet's side of the Sun. And even as the Sun nears the peak of its solar cycle in 2025, the last month has passed without any significant eruptions. But with September coming in, solar activities have again picked up. Recently, a massive magnetic filament erupted in the northern hemisphere of the Sun. The eruption resulted in a large cloud of coronal mass ejection (CME) being hurled at the Earth. NASA has confirmed that the CME will strike our planet on September 2.

While Starfield aims for a grounded, "NASA-punk" aesthetic, it has its share of fantastical sci-fi contrivances. But it does have one extremely believable prediction about the future: in 307 years, the Earth will be a barren husk.

New World: Rise of the Angry Earth , is coming on October 3rd. The new expansion was announced today, along with details on the new story, new features (mounts!) pricing, and more details for Season 3.

The New World Team has just announced its first paid expansion, New World: Rise of the Angry Earth. Launching on October 3, Adventurers can discover the story behind the fall of First Light and the rise of the Elysian Wilds. In addition to the transformed zone, there will be mounts for faster travel, a new Flail weapon, a new gear rarity called Artifacts, and progression changes.

New World: Rise of the Angry Earth has officially been unveiled, with the expansion coming on October 3rd, 2023. The expansion was announced back in February, and the MMO has been laying the groundwork in recent updates, with Amazon Games cutting off one of the first regions of Aeternum, First Light. Picking up the narrative, Adiana has effectively erected a Bramble Wall, barring entry into the region. Rise of the Angry Earth finally showcases what has been happening behind that wall all this time: Artemis has transformed First Light into a new region called Elysian Wilds.

In an intriguing celestial observation, NASA's Perseverance Rover on Mars has captured a striking view of a massive sunspot, signalling a region of heightened solar solar activity on the far side of the Sun. This sunspot is rotating to face the Earth and the likelihood of a solar storm has just increased manifold.

This week, the Earth has not been hit by a single solar storm. We have suffered some minor instances of radio blackouts and GPS disruptions due to solar winds, but apart from that, the Sun has remained quiet, even when a highly unstable sunspot, AR3405, has emerged in the Earth's view of the Sun. However, things could be changing. In the late hours of yesterday, strange radio emissions were detected, which is usually a warning sign for a solar flare eruption. Sure enough, a flare was set off and it did release a coronal mass ejection (CME), as per reports. The direction of the CME has not been confirmed so far, but there is a possibility that it could be Earth-bound.

A new sunspot has entered the Earth-facing side of the Sun, and it appears to be crackling with solar flares. Luckily, so far it has not exploded, but it cannot be said just how long it will stay the same way. And perhaps that's why today's solar storm forecast has included a chance of an X-class solar flare eruption as well as the possibility of radio blackouts due to solar winds passing. It remains to be seen whether any eruptions today can release a coronal mass ejection (CME) towards the Earth and cause a further solar storm threat.