Solar Cycle 25 is certainly not as tame as the previous one. The Sun’s activity is reaching its peak and we have been seeing solar storms, coronal mass ejections, and geomagnetic storms of an intensity unseen in years. And now the Sun has released its strongest solar flare yet for this cycle.
It was measured as an X8.7 flare, significantly stronger than the ones emitted last week. The light released by the event was so energetic, released in the extreme ultraviolet, that it ionized the top of the atmosphere. This in turn caused a radio blackout over the Americas, which would affect planes and ships that rely on signals below 30 MHz.
The ionization also makes the atmosphere puff up, which adds more drag to satellites in low Earth orbit. They will need to be maneuvered back away from Earth. Solar flares can also disrupt communications with satellites.
Extreme ultraviolet view of the Sun. The flare is visible at the edge of the disk.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
The source of it is Sunspot AR 3664. From this region, several strong flares were already observed last week, including, at the time, the second strongest of this cycle. The Sun also released several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which slammed into our planet creating the beautiful auroral display seen last weekend.
Back then, the sunspot was right on the visible side of the Sun and the spot was visible to the naked eye. It is 16 times as wide as our planet! As the Sun rotates, the spot is now on its side, so we only get a side view of it. If it had happened last week, we might have measured a higher flare.
“Region 3664 produced yet ANOTHER X-ray flare as it moves beyond the Western solar limb!! This time, it was an X8.7 flare, the largest of this solar cycle! Due to its location, any CME associated with this flare will likely NOT have any geomagnetic impacts on Earth,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said in a post. “As always, stay tuned to our website for updates!”
A little increase in auroral activity might happen today as the CME released brushes past Earth. Unfortunately, there won’t be anything as dramatic as last Friday.
The solar cycle lasts 11 years, with a peak in activity and a minimum. The most intense events tend to happen around the peak (which could be happening any day now) but there are the occasional outliers. This flare is the 10th strongest this century.
Source Link: Biggest Solar Flare In 2 Decades Released By The Sun, Causing Blackouts
