A sun blast is all set to hit Earth today: India may see auroras tonight, as per NASA alert

The sun has been blazing all week. It has been flaring, erupting and hurling clouds of magnetised gas into the solar system one after another. But now, it is ready to strike. A patch of the solar surface called Active Region 4461 produced an explosion classified as an M1.8 flare, which sits in the mid-range of the solar flare scale.

A solar flare is an instant, intense burst of radiation from the Sun's surface and this one carried a core filament. One that was directly headed for Earth and is now crossing the inner solar system at roughly 1,400 kilometres per second. Today, it is expected to reach Earth.

A welcome solar storm

The Space Weather Prediction Centre or SWPC, the US agency that watches the sun around the clock issued a watch for a G3 or stronger geomagnetic storm. A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of Earth's magnetic field caused by a surge of solar energy hitting the magnetosphere.

What all of this means for the layman is that tonight has a good chance that you look up at the northern hemisphere and find auroras in the sky. Popularly known as the northern lights, these are curtains of green, purple, and red light that ripple across the night sky when charged solar particles collide with gases in Earth's atmosphere.

According to the NASA forecast, parts of northern India, central Europe, northern US, southern Australia and New Zealand could see displays of striking light tonight.

Understanding the science

This solar flare attack began on June 6, when an active patch of the sun's surface called Active Region 4461 erupted, shooting out an M1.8-class solar flare, a massive burst of X-ray radiation that immediately caused minor radio disruptions on Earth.

This was followed by a coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive burst of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, directed towards Earth, now expected to cause a geomagnetic storm between June 8 and 9. Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). A G5 storm was the one that knocked out power grids and sent auroras blazing across the country in May 2024.

In India, the best chances lie in the high-altitude regions of the north, provided local atmospheric conditions cooperate by remaining clear. Ladakh, Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh, parts of Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh offer the best viewing points. The best time to spot auroras is usually between 10 pm and 2 am IST, when the sky is at its darkest. Or aim for the window between 11 pm and 1 am IST.

How to see the aurora borealis?

No special equipment is required to watch the bright lights. Ensure that you are in a dark area with a clear view of the north horizon, and allow your eyes to adjust to the view. For those looking to capture the view, shoot in manual mode with ISO between 1600 and 6400 and a shutter speed of 10 to 25 seconds.

However, keep in mind that celestial predictions don't always turn true and the night could always turn out to be a normal one.