Massive solar flare could interfere with Earth power grid, satellites

A massive solar flare that erupted from the sun late Tuesday is unleashing one of the most powerful solar storms in more than five years, according to NASA. scientists.

They say it’s resulted in a solar tempest that may potentially interfere with satellites in orbit and power grids when it reaches Earth.

“Space weather has gotten very interesting over the last 24 hours,” Joseph Kunches, a space weather scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told reporters Wednesday. “This was quite the Super Tuesday.”

Several NASA spacecraft captured video of the solar flare as it hurled a wave of solar plasma and charged particles, called a coronal mass ejection, into space. The CME is not expected to hit Earth directly, but the cloud of charged particles could deliver a glancing blow to the planet.

Early predictions estimate that the CME will reach Earth Thursday at 4 a.m. PST, with the effects likely lasting for 24 hours, and possibly lingering into Friday, Kunches said