A solar eruption has actually blown a huge hole in the sun’s environment, triggering momentary radio blackouts and potentially setting off a northern lights display screen tomorrow.

Researchers tape-recorded an M5.7-class solar flare on Sunday (May 10), which quickly interrupted high-frequency radio interactions on the sunlit side of our world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Area Weather Prediction CenterM-class solar flares are the 2nd greatest classification of solar eruption, after X-class flares.

The eruption likewise produced a coronal mass ejection (CME)– a slower-moving cloud of solar plasma and radiation– that can activate geomagnetic storms and aurora display screens. There’s no warranty that the CME will strike Earth, however we might take a glancing blow, according to the Space Weather Prediction.

“Modeling of the resulting CME indicates that a bulk of the material should pass well behind Earth’s orbit,” a representative for the Space Weather Prediction Center composed in an upgrade released Monday (May 11). “That being said, a glancing blow and or shock arrival by late on 12 May into the early portions of the 13th … can not be ruled out.”

Will there be auroras?A glancing blow might produce a small G1 geomagnetic storm, according to the U.K.’s Met OfficeThe geomagnetic storm scale varies from G1 to G5, with G5 being the most serious. G1 storms can still result in noticeable auroras in locations like northern Michigan and Maine, weak power grid variations and small effects on satellite operations and migratory animals, according to the Area Weather Prediction Center

Our sun has actually been really active over the last few years after reaching solar optimum — the peak of the sun’s approximately 11-year activity cycle. The solar optimum most likely ended at some point in early 2025so solar activity is, in theory, decreasingSolar flares of a 5.7 magnitude aren’t unusual around a solar optimum, when there are more sunspots to release solar flares and CMEs.