An unusually intense solar flare over the weekend may result in beautiful sun auroras on Tuesday.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said there are "several coronal mass ejections in play," which is when the sun releases billions of tons of solar material and magnetic fields, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Peaking at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Saturday, the solar flare caused a short radio disturbance, according to the Daily Mail. People living at higher altitudes could be seeing a light show if auroras are created.
This particular flare was uniquely "impulsive," releasing an intense burst of energy, heliophysicist Alex Young told the L.A. Times.
Sunspot AR2017 produced three solar flares altogether over the weekend, the Daily Mail reported.
The solar flare was a "very nice example of coronal dimming," Dean Pesnell at the Solar Dynamics Observatory told the L.A. Times.
The atmosphere surrounding the solar flare became darker "because material is being moved or blow away. When there is less material, there is less stuff to give off light and so it appears darker. Hence the term coronal dimming," Young said.
Researchers say solar flares could affect radio communications and other technologies on Earth, according to the University of Cambridge.
"We care about this as during flares we can have [coronal mass ejections] and sometimes they are sent in our direction," said Dr. Jaroslav Dudik, Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Mathematical Sciences.
"Human civilization is nowadays maintained by technology and that technology is vulnerable to space weather. Indeed, CMEs can damage satellites and therefore have an enormous financial cost. They can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth's magnetic field. Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies."
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
