Earth is under attack from outer space.
A solar flare occurred late Sunday evening, kicking off the biggest solar radiation storm in more than six years.
Technically speaking, the sun erupted with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME).
The radiation from the storm has been rated ‘strong’ - the lowest level on a 3-tier scale.
So the biggest expected threat from this storm are the massive doses of plasma from the CME which can put electronic signals at risk, including entire electrical grids.
One note of caution: Ejected plasma usually travels 1-2 million miles an hour through space, but this storm’s plasma is rocketing at over 4 million miles per hour.
We’re hoping that sounds scarier than the actual effects. The storm is expected to continue through Wednesday night, so we’ll see.
