Aurora alert: Giant 'hole' in sun and strong geomagnetic storm converge to supercharge northern lights this weekend

image via Space.com

March 22, 2025, 5:48 PM

• •A massive eruption on the sun that flung solar plasma toward Earth on Friday may trigger a strong geomagnetic storm this weekend that could supercharge auroras across the northern United States.
• •The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection (or CME), exploded on Friday (March 21) even as a so-called "coronal hole" opened on the sun to unleash a separate high-speed stream of solar particles toward Earth.
• •The result: A tag-team of solar material that should reach Earth this weekend to amplify northern lights displays late Saturday and early Sunday (March 22-23).

A huge sun eruption combines with speedy solar wind from a "coronal hole" for a weekend aurora show, experts predict. The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection (or CME), exploded on Friday (March 21) even as a so-called "coronal hole" opened on the sun to unleash a separate high-speed stream of solar particles toward Earth. The result: A tag-team of solar material that should reach Earth this weekend to amplify northern lights displays late Saturday and early Sunday (March 22-23).

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