Dark Eruption Ignites a Solar Tsunami: Rare Cannibal CME Threatens Earth

A “cannibalistic” coronal mass ejection (CME), born from a series of solar storms including an unexpected “dark eruption,” is currently destined to intersect with Earth, and it could trigger a substantial geomagnetic storm on our planet when it impacts on Tuesday (July 18).

CMEs are massive, swift-moving clouds of magnetized plasma and solar radiation that are occasionally thrown into space in conjunction with solar flares — potent explosions on the sun’s surface resulting from the snapping of horseshoe-shaped plasma loops located near sunspots, similar to an over-extended rubber band snapping apart. If these CMEs collide with Earth, they may lead to geomagnetic storms — disruptions in our planet’s magnetic field — that can potentially cause partial radio blackouts and generate intense aurora displays far beyond the regular areas near Earth’s magnetic poles.

A cannibalistic CME is the product of an initial CME being chased down by a quicker, subsequent one. The second CME envelops the first when it reaches it, forming a singular, large plasma wave.

On July 14, the sun fired off a CME along with a dark eruption — a solar flare with atypically cool plasma giving it a dark-wave appearance relative to the sun’s scorching surface — from sunspot AR3370, a modestly dark patch that was largely inconspicuous until that point, as per Spaceweather.com. A quicker, second CME was ejected from the significantly larger sunspot AR3363 on July 15.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center’s simulation suggests that the second storm will reach the first CME and morph into a cannibalistic cloud, with a high probability of striking Earth on July 18.

Both CMEs originated from C-class solar flares, an intermediate category in terms of solar eruption potency. Alone, they would lack the strength to incite significant geomagnetic storms. But their compounded size and velocity imply they are likely to instigate a G1 or G2 level disturbance, the topmost categories of a geomagnetic storm.

Cannibal CMEs are an unusual occurrence, as they necessitate perfectly aligned successive CMEs moving at precise velocities. However, there have been multiple instances in the past few years.

In November 2021, a cannibal CME made an impact on Earth, inciting one of the initial significant geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle. Two additional CMEs impacted our planet in 2022, one in March and the other in August, but they only triggered minor G3-class storms.

Cannibal CMEs tend to occur more frequently during the solar maximum, the turbulent climax of the sun’s approximately 11-year solar cycle. In this phase, the number of sunspots and solar flares surge as the sun’s magnetic field becomes increasingly unstable.

Scientists had originally anticipated that the next solar maximum would occur in 2025 and be relatively weak compared to historical solar cycles. However, Live Science recently suggested that the sun’s explosive peak might occur earlier — and with greater intensity — than previously predicted. Unusual solar phenomena, like cannibal CMEs, suggest that the solar maximum is rapidly nearing.

This year, Earth has already experienced five G1 or G2 geomagnetic storms, including the strongest storm in over six years. These storms have caused the thermosphere — Earth’s second-highest atmospheric layer — to reach its highest temperature in over two decades.

As we approach the solar maximum, the number of sunspots is also escalating, hitting its highest total in almost 21 years in June.