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Issue 134

08 Flash · Integrity Flash 2025 · Members Only

Solar Storming Activity

12 Nov 2025: Significant solar activity caused the delay of the second New Glenn launch on 12 Nov. Seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at some space weather (and also post some amazing photos of the Northern Lights)! Watch Video . - From Space.com “The (New Glenn) mission, and its delay, come at a…

Author Greg Gillinger Published November 23, 2025

12 Nov 2025: Significant solar activity caused the delay of the second New Glenn launch on 12 Nov. Seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at some space weather (and also post some amazing photos of the Northern Lights)! Watch Video.

– From Space.com

  • “The (New Glenn) mission, and its delay, come at a particularly volatile time for Earth’s star. As the current period of solar activity ramps up, our home planet, too, has experienced some significant interactions between the atmosphere and incoming space weather.”
  • “One of the most energetic sunspot groups of the current solar cycle, AR4274, recently released a powerful G4 coronal mass ejection straight toward Earth. Its impact caused widespread aurora overnight Tuesday (Nov. 11), and led to New Glenn’s subsequent delay.”
  • “Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s atmosphere — the corona.”
  • “Compared to solar flares — bursts of electromagnetic radiation that travel at the speed of light, reaching Earth in just over 8 minutes — CMEs travel at a more leisurely pace, relatively speaking. At their highest speeds of almost 1,900 miles per second (3,000 kilometers per second), CMEs can reach Earth in about 15 to 18 hours whilst slower CMEs traveling around 155 mi/s (250 km/s) can take several days to arrive, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”
  • “These relatively slower travel times are useful as they give us more time to prepare for such an arrival. CMEs can wreak havoc with power grids, telecommunication networks and orbiting satellites and expose astronauts to dangerous doses of radiation. Conversely, CMEs are a welcomed visitor for skywatchers worldwide as they can trigger impressive aurora displays that are visible at latitudes beyond their “normal” polar range.”


From: Beauty of Earth Post

– “The Sun just fired off its strongest solar flare of 2025—an eruption so intense that it may light up half the United States with rare auroras tonight.”

  • “A massive X5.1-class solar flare burst from sunspot AR4274 on November 11, marking the most energetic solar event of the year and the strongest since October 2024.”
  • “Detected at 5:04 am EST by observatories like NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and tracked by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, this flare unleashed an immense surge of X-rays and ultraviolet radiation. These high-energy particles triggered R3-level radio blackouts across Europe and Africa, disrupting communications on Earth’s sunlit side.”
  • “But the drama doesn’t end there. The flare was swiftly followed by three powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs), vast clouds of solar plasma racing toward Earth. NOAA predicts the third CME—the fastest and most energetic—will strike on November 12, possibly merging with its predecessors to amplify geomagnetic storms in a phenomenon known as a ‘Cannibal CME.’”
  • “This could push auroras as far south as Northern California and Alabama, and raise the threat of G4-level geomagnetic disturbances—strong enough to impact power grids, GPS signals, and satellite operations.”
  • “What makes this event unique is not just its scale, but its timing: it signals the fiery peak of Solar Cycle 25, offering scientists real-time data on solar maximum and the Sun’s capacity to disrupt our technological world.”




  • “In 1859, the Carrington Event — a colossal solar storm triggered by a CME — resulted in aurora displays observed near tropical latitudes over Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Hawaii, according to NASA Science.”
  • “The Carrington Event in 1859 caused worldwide telegraph system failures. According to History.com there were even reports of operators receiving electric shocks and sparks showering from telegraph machines, setting papers ablaze. In 1989, a CME accompanied a solar flare that hit Earth, plunging the entire province of Quebec, Canada, into an electrical blackout that lasted 12-hours, according to a NASA statement. The event cost Quebec’s utility company Hydro-Quebec at least $10 million in damages. “
  • “GPS systems are particularly vulnerable to disturbances in the ionosphere and GPS coordinates have been known to stray by tens of feet during a CME event. The disruption occurs because GPS uses radio signals to relay information between a satellite and a ground receiver. The radio signal passes through the ionosphere layer containing charged plasma that bends the path of the GPS signal in a similar fashion to lens bending light, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Normally, GPS systems can compensate for this bending of the radio signal, leaving the accuracy of GPS unaffected. However, during a CME event, the ionosphere can be so severely disturbed that the GPS models cannot keep track of such changes and receivers can no longer calculate an accurate position.