WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Solar radiation is hurtling toward Earth, and scientists say it's likely to hit the Earth's atmosphere starting today and continue through the weekend. While humans will be perfectly safe from the radiation, the barrage of solar storms could disrupt satellite communications and even knock out power.
The sun regularly shoots out solar flares and bursts of radiation known as coronal mass ejections. The sun featured a series of flares and ejections on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and now the mass of emitted radiation is making its way here, to Earth.
NASA confirms one of the two flares was an X1.6 class solar flare -- a flare of the most intense variety. In a press release on Thursday, NASA said two coronal mass ejections had emerged from same region of the sun that produced two flares the day prior.
Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, and solar flares are similar and often occur together -- both are eruptions of radiation from the sun. But whereas a flare is a more contained leap of radiation, CMEs are typically larger and involve a more significant separation of solar material from the sun's corona.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said some of the radiation had already begun hitting the Earth's upper atmosphere on Friday, and that additional solar storms would continue to arrive overnight and into Saturday.
"A G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch is still in effect for September 13th due to the combined influence of this CME and the one projected to arrive late on the 12th," officials warned in the forecast.
Though scientists work hard to keep tabs on the strength and speed of solar storms, predicting the effects of the cosmic radiation remains difficult.
"This is a pretty strong solar storm, and we just won't know until it gets here," meteorologist Chad Myers told CNN.
But while the storm may be worrisome for astronauts and the operators of electrical grids, it's welcome news for those hoping to catch a glimpse of the so-called Northern Lights. Solar storms create beautiful auroras in the night sky for those watching from near the poles.
