If you’ve been paying attention – and especially if you got a view of the full eclipse – you’re probably aware that the sun is entering a phase of solar flares that could have some potential adverse effects on Earth.

But hey, in the meantime we might get to see some more Northern Lights much further south than normal.

That’s because a sunspot that’s huge coronal mass ejections were responsible for the spectacle – along with blackouts – is ramping up for another explosion.

This will likely cause another geomagnetic storm, though it may not be as big as the last one.

Sunspot AR3664 rotated back into view this week and immediately erupted in an X-class solar flare – the most powerful one possible.

Experts believe this is far from the last one.

Bursts of plasma and energy are thrown into space when these mass ejections take place, usually, but not always, in sunspots.

Sunspots are temporarily dark regions on the Sun’s surface that bear increased solar activity.

The activity is more common as the Sun approaches solar maximum, like it is right now.

The G5 geomagnetic storm that took place earlier this spring was cased by three coronal mass ejections, and the Northern Lights were the result of charged particles going haywire as they hit the gases of our atmosphere.

They can even disrupt and damage electronics.

That said, there’s no CME being forecasted, because there are more factors that have to come together to create this “perfect” storm.

Astronomers will surely keep a close eye on the solar flares in the coming days, and will let us know if there will be a show.

Hopefully one of the good kind.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.