Sun storm might kill the comet, but be ready to be amazed by auroras

Our sun released coronal mass ejection (CME) a few days back which is expected to bring beautiful auroras at much lower latitudes than usual on Thursday. However, a "severe" G4-class geomagnetic storm is also on the cards, according to an alert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.

The good thing about the solar flare is that it will lead to northern lights that "may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California".

However, the comet that has been moving towards the inner solar system is likely to face the brunt of the solar storm and might fizzle out soon.

Solar flare to hit comet?

Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS is likely to be hit with a large burst of radiation from the flare and might not survive.

A few weeks back, an expert had raised concerns about the comet surviving its journey towards the sun, saying it might vapourise as it nears it. But all concerns were alleviated when other scientists said that it would be able to complete the trip and would return in perfect condition.

After being visible over much of the southern hemisphere in the past few days, it is now going to become visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere. The best day to see it is Oct 12.

A report by IFL Science says that the comet might get by the CME, and rip off its tail.

Solar storm to affectsatellite operations

Meanwhile, communication infrastructure can get hit by the solar ejections, NOAA warned. NASA says that the CME might slam Earth early Thursday. The Space Weather Prediction Center has warned of a G3 geomagnetic storm, besides a strong geomagnetic storm.

"Infrastructure operators have been notified to mitigate any possible impacts," the service explains. There might be a "possible slight risk of various satellite operations' effects. Intermittent GPS degradation [is also] possible."

The Sun has been extremely active and is at the peak of its 11-year solar cycle. The active sunspot AR3842 erupted on Monday, sending out a strong solar flare into space.