Flares don’t cause auroras. However, they are sometimes (often?) accompanied by coronal mass ejections which, if they head our way, can cause auroras. So it all depends on whether or not there were CMEs with these flares and whether or not those CMEs are on a path that will strike Earth. This forecast differs from the one in the posted article.
As it happens, there are a few CMEs headed our way right now according to spaceweather.com .
STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM PREDICTED: The sun hurled another CME toward Earth today, and this one looks like it will be a direct hit. The M7.5-class explosion from sunspot 4274 has an unambiguous Earth-directed component. In total, three CMEs will graze or hit Earth in the days ahead: #1, #2, #3. As a result, strong G3-class geomagnetic storms are possible on Nov. 6-8. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
Just for reference: G3s aren’t that huge, and hit the earth frequently. And a grazing, rather than a direct hit, won’t do much. What we don’t know when we first see them is how diffuse those CMEs are going to be when they hit us. Most CMEs spread out after they leave the sun, sometimes to such an extent that their impact on earth isn’t significant. The forecasting centers monitor how CMEs develop en route to the earth, so if you’re interested, keep checking their forecasts.
Flares don’t cause auroras. However, they are sometimes (often?) accompanied by coronal mass ejections which, if they head our way, can cause auroras. So it all depends on whether or not there were CMEs with these flares and whether or not those CMEs are on a path that will strike Earth. This forecast differs from the one in the posted article.
As it happens, there are a few CMEs headed our way right now according to spaceweather.com .
Just for reference: G3s aren’t that huge, and hit the earth frequently. And a grazing, rather than a direct hit, won’t do much. What we don’t know when we first see them is how diffuse those CMEs are going to be when they hit us. Most CMEs spread out after they leave the sun, sometimes to such an extent that their impact on earth isn’t significant. The forecasting centers monitor how CMEs develop en route to the earth, so if you’re interested, keep checking their forecasts.