Yet another Solar storm struck the Earth today, caused blackouts; Check details now

The July 15 solar flare eruption, that took place after a “long snake-like filament” was spotted on the surface of the Sun continues to affect the Earth. Two days ago, on Tuesday July 19, a solar storm struck the planet after cracking a hole open in the magnetosphere of the Earth. And today, July 21, another storm slammed into the planet. This time, the storm reached the southern hemisphere giving rise to aurora Australis. But the solar storm also caused problems for radio operators as it caused a brief shortwave radio blackout in multiple regions. Read on to know the details of this solar storm.

As per a report by SpaceWeather.com, this solar storm has been confirmed to be a part of the July 15 solar activity. The website noted, “Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on July 21st when a slow-moving CME is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The CME was hurled into space by an unstable filament of magnetism, which erupted on July 15th”.

Dr. Tamitha Skov, popular space weather expert took to Twitter to report on the aurora Australis, confirming that the solar storm reached the southern hemisphere. “Although we didnt get much #AuroraAustralis field reporting on twitter, gorgeous views were seen where there were cloudless skies down under,” she wrote, posting an image of an aurora display in Tasmania, Australia. “The recent #solarstorm was strong enough to bring #aurora views clear up to Queenscliff Victoria, Australia,” she added.

Solar storm strikes the Earth, causes aurora display in Australia

This CME was particularly slow as usually solar material takes around 24-48 hours to reach the Earth. And due to its slow speed, it is expected that the solar storm will be of the minor variant G1 class and will not cause any major damage to communication systems. GPS systems are not under threat, although a brief spell of shortwave radio blackouts were observed.

The blackouts caused minor disruption to amateur radio operators as well as communication systems in private ships and airplanes moving across during the storm. According to the official NOAA report, there is a further 30% possibility of a major solar storm today and a 10% chance of a minor solar storm tomorrow.