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Watch it live here! The sun launched a major “X-class” solar flare, sparking a high-frequency radio blackout across parts of South America. That same pulse of energy is trailed by a coronal mass ejection (CME), or a cluster of solar plasma and material surfing an interstellar shock wave. The CME, the strongest of this solar cycle so far, could slam Earth and whip up a stunning display of the northern lights. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, is warning of a potential strong (G3) geomagnetic storm that may rock the Earth on Saturday, with effects lingering into Sunday. Storms of that tier can produce displays of the northern lights visible at latitudes as low as Pennsylvania, Iowa and Oregon, and can also have electrical impacts. Voltage irregularities are possible on high-latitude power grids, along with intermittent issues with radio and navigation. That spattering of solar flares and geomagnetic storms caused a power outage in Sweden and forced air traffic controllers to reroute flights; NA
