The Biggest Solar Flare Since 2017 Erupts from the Sun and Earth is in the Line of Fire (Video)

The Sun has just released its most powerful solar flare of the cycle, a colossal X-class flare.

The X9.05 Solar flare reached its peak 8:10 a.m. EDT (1210 GMT), causing shortwave radio blackouts over Africa and Europe, the sunlit part of the Earth at the time of the outbreak.

The solar flare came from the Sunspot Group AR3842, which has made headlines before. On October 1, the same sunspot region fired one powerful X7.1 solar flare and unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) – a cloud of plasma and magnetic field – that is currently heading towards them Earth.

x Flare outbreak on October 3, 2024 — On October 3, the Sun unleashed the most powerful solar flare of this solar cycle, a colossal X9.05 flare – and it headed toward Earth. (Image credit: NASA / SDO and the science teams AIA, EVE and HMI / helioviewer.org)

An Earth-controlled CME did indeed track the monster eruption, space weather researcher and meteorologist Sara Housseal confirmed in a post on Aurora. “Right now, I would expect an impact on Earth late in the 5th and early in the 6th,” Housseal wrote.

The incoming CMEs are expected to hit Earth between October 4th and 6th, potentially triggering widespread auroras.

Related: Where and when you can see the Northern Lights in 2024

CMEs transport electrically charged particles called ions and when they collide with those from Earth magnetosphereThey can trigger geomagnetic storms. During these storms, the ions interact with the gases within them Earth’s atmosphereEnergy is released in the form of light. This phenomenon is recognized as Northern lightsor Aurora Borealis, in the Northern Hemisphere and as Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, in the Southern Hemisphere.

Graphic detailing the effects of the large X-class solar flare and widespread radio blackouts

Keep an eye on swpc.noaa.gov for the latest updates. (Image credit: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next few days. Space weather is moody and unpredictable, so it definitely keeps forecasters on their toes. One thing we know that accompanied the big X-Flare was a radio blackout.

Map of shortwave radio outages showing the areas most affected by the outages, primarily Europe and Africa.

Map of the shortwave radio outage from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. (Image credit: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

The shortwave radio failures over Europe and Africa were a result of radiation from the solar flare reaching Earth and ionizing the upper atmosphere as it arrived. This ionization creates a denser environment for the transmission of high-frequency shortwave radio signals, facilitating long-distance communication. As these radio waves pass through ionized (electrically charged) layers, they lose energy due to increasing collisions with them Electronswhich can weaken or completely absorb the radio signals.

Today’s record-breaking solar flare was the strongest Solar cycle until now. In fact, it was the most powerful solar flare in over seven years! Already in September 2017 two colossal torches The measurements X13.3 and X11.8 were reported in the decline phase of the previous solar cycle. (Solar activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year cycle.)

Solar flares are divided into different classes based on their size, with X-class flares being the most powerful. M-class flares are ten times weaker than the X-class, followed by C-class flares, which are ten times weaker than the M-class. B-class flares are ten times weaker than C-class flares, and A-class flares are ten times weaker than B-class flares and have no noticeable impact on Earth. Each class is further divided by numbers from 1 to 10 (and beyond for X-class flares) to indicate the relative strength of the flare.

If you’re interested in tracking space weather and knowing when and where to spot auroras, I recommend downloading a space weather app that provides forecasts based on your location. One option I use is My Aurora Forecast & Alerts, which is available for both iOS And Android. However, any similar app should work well. I also use the Space Weather Live app. available on iOS And Androidto gain a deeper understanding of whether current space weather conditions are favorable for aurora sightings.

The Biggest Solar Flare Since 2017 Erupts from the Sun and Earth is in the Line of Fire (Video)

ByJasper

By Jasper

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