Sun May Be Waking Up With Sudden Surge In Activity And Hyperactive Sunspot
After a few months of relatively low solar activity, the Sun might be about to spit out more solar flares.
Images of the Sun taken on December 4 show that it has five large sunspots and two long filaments of magnetism facing Earth.
“In the southeast limb, we see an extensive prominence, also in the southern hemisphere, but within the disk we can see the active region AR3153 that contains sunspots of a significant size, we also see a very extensive filament,” astrophotographer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau from Argentina, told Spaceweather.com in reference to a picture he took of the Sun. “In the northern hemisphere, in addition to some interesting filaments, we see three active regions containing multiple sunspots.”
One other sunspot, named AR3157, also underwent a period of hyperactivity over the weekend before it turned toward Earth, with forecasts predicting it may send a solar flare or coronal mass ejection our way in the coming days.
X-class flares, the most powerful rating, can result in planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.
Minor R1 radio blackout in progress
Significant Solar Flare Erupts From Sun
The Sun emitted a significant solar flare peaking at 10:29 a.m. EDT on July 3, 2021. NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earths atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however when intense enough they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.
To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center at , the U.S. governments official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings and alerts.
This flare is classified as an X1.5-class flare.
X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
How Often Do They Happen
Solar flares happen at different times depending on what stage of the solar cycle an 11-year calendar of the Suns activity – the flaming ball of gas is currently in, with the star moving regularly from quiet to active and back to quiet.
Those periods of activity are known as solar weather, and while their changes have been watched for hundreds of years, many of their processes and effects remain largely mysterious.
Around the solar maximum, many solar flares can occur during the same day, while during the solar minimum flares could burst into life as often as once per week.
The first solar flare rcorded happened on 1 September 1859, spotted by scientists Richard C. Carrington and Richard Hodgson.
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Radiation From Solar Activity
- The Sun sometimes emits cosmic radiation during various solar events.
- Solar events include coronal mass ejections, sunspots, and solar flares.
- Solar events can interfere with communications systems on Earth.
Cosmic radiation is emitted during solar events, including sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections and proton storms. The Earths atmosphere works like a shield, keeping out large amounts of this radiation. Cosmic radiation is of particular concern to astronauts and equipment in space.
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Geomagnetic storms can produce extra currents in the power grid, which interfere with transformers and can cause outages.
“I’d expect that interference to cause parts of the power grid to shut down to prevent wider damage, and the operators would need some time to restore normal operation, maybe hours, maybe a day or two,” Hapgood said.
That’s what happened in Quebec in 1989. An inundation of particles from the sun knocked out the region’s power for about nine hours.
“I’d rate that as a once-in-a-century event in any particular location,” Hapgood said, adding that any solar-storm power outage would likely be across a region of roughly 1,000 miles.
“It is important for people to have some personal resilience to loss of electricity,” he added.
That means stocking up on nonperishable food, clean water, cash, battery-powered or hand-crank flashlights, blankets and warm clothes for the winter, and some means of cooking safely without electricity.
It’s also a good idea to have a battery-powered or wind-up radio to get news and weather updates. But there’s a chance that won’t work during a solar storm, either.
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What Is A Solar Flare And How Do They Affect Earth
A solar flare, which is a burst of radiation that accelerates charged particles away from the sun, travels at the speed of light, so by the time forecasters see it, it’s already affecting Earth’s ionosphere, according to NASA. That can cause radio blackouts.
Coronal mass ejections are a more violent, targeted eruption when a cloud of plasma and magnetic fields shoots out into space.
CMEs primarily affect the magnetosphere, jostling Earth’s magnetic field lines in an event called a geomagnetic storm, also known as a solar storm. That’s what can cause power outages.
Forecasters can issue warnings ahead of CMEs. Some CMEs reach Earth as fast as 15 hours after they’re first spotted, while others can take days, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
As with any disaster, however, it’s wise to plan ahead so you’re not rushing to stock up on supplies at the last minute.
How Dangerous Are Solar Flares
The storms can wreak havoc on navigation systems and cause entire national power grids to grind to a halt.
However, our planet has a natural protection against them, including our magnetic field and an atmosphere that blocks most.
But they can directly affect communications and radio transmissions, sparking concerns that they could wreak havoc on modern civilisation.
They are also particularly dangerous for airline pilots and astronauts, who could be susceptible to radiation during a storm.
Former US President Barack Obama was forced to issue a chilling warning to the nation in preparation for devastating space weather storms in 2016.
He said: “Extreme space weather events – those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure – could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation.”
In April 2017, Nasa warned of a gaping hole in the Sun’s atmosphere belching “fast-moving” radioactive particles and allowing solar wind to escape.
However in terms of human life and the threat to that – there is nothing to be worried about.
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Are We In Any Danger
Strong solar flares can send huge clouds of plasma into space. This is known as a coronal mass ejection , and when they hit the Earth they can cause geomagnetic storms and intense aurora. However, most CMEs are not associated with flares, the ESA notes.
For some of the largest, X-class flares, these can trigger radio blackouts, but they are incredibly rare, while medium M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts.
Large geomagnetic storms have, in the past, caused power outages and damaged communication satellites. The energy particles can also be damaging to electronic equipment and astronauts or passengers in high-flying aircraft.
Approximately 7,500 polar routes are taken by airlines every year, Nasa says, and when the flight paths cross to latitudes where satellite communication cannot be used, crews must use high-frequency radio to communicate. During certain space weather events, the density of ionised gas can increase and affect these radio communications.
However, there are some caveats to whether these ejections will strike the Earth. Solar flares only impact the Earth when the occur on the side of the Sun facing the planet because the flares are made of protons, if scientists can see it, then the Earth could be affected.
Moreover, the Earths own magnetic shield acts as protection for the planet deflecting the radiation and preventing most of it from having an effect on the surface.
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Don’t Plan To Rely On Radio Or Gps
Remember that solar flares, as well as CMEs, can degrade radio signals and even cause radio blackouts. Two solar storms cut off emergency radio communications for a total of 11 hours shortly after Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Geomagnetic storms also interfere with satellites and can even push them out of orbit, disrupting GPS on Earth. So it could be smart to print out directions to key spots or emergency-evacuation locations ahead of time.
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Cmes And Proton Storms
Astronomers use the term “flare” specifically for the burst of energy and radiation on the sun, but it is associated with a variety of other effects. For example, material from the solar atmosphere heated by the flare can begin expanding violently, eventually forming a coronal mass ejection, or CME a huge cloud of particles blasted out in a specific direction, which may take several days to reach Earth’s orbit.
The most violent flares also produce an effect called a solar proton storm, as the shock from an expanding CME accelerates nearby protons , forcing them outwards at far higher speeds than the CME itself. In some cases, where the sun’s magnetic field is in a favorable orientation, the protons can reach a substantial fraction of the speed of light. EM radiation from a flare reaches Earth in just over 8 minutes, but the fastest proton storms may arrive just 30 minutes or so later.
Space Weather Goes Through Changes
Nasa has said that as activities ramp up on the Sun, it will explode with more eruptions as more and more sunspots take shape.
“We have an increasing dependence on space-based technology and ground-based infrastructure that are susceptible to the dynamic nature of space. For many new commercial and government stakeholders, this already stronger-than-expected solar cycle will be the first they navigate,” Nasa has said.
The solar activity could affect over 35,000 objects orbiting in the ionosphere-thermosphere region around our planet, including the International Space Station.
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Scary Huge Sunspot On The Sun Could Double In Size Hurl Solar Flares
The solar activity is nearly at its peak due to the Sun being in the middle of its 11-year solar cycle, which has resulted in increased solar output. Our planet has been in the firing line of solar flares, solar storms, Coronal Mass Ejections and more for quite a while and more are expected as the Sun moves ahead in its cycle. Although this solar activity might seem harmless due to the distance of the Sun from our planet, they can cause major damage.
Now, scientists are constantly observing increasing activity at a Sunspot named AR3157, on the surface of the Sun. It has been observed emitting plumes into space, according to a report by spaceweather.com. The report said, “New sunspot AR3157 doesn’t look like much, but it is very active, almost constantly hurling plumes of plasma into space.
This growing sunspot, if combined with another nearby sunspot, could trigger an explosion and send strong solar flares hurtling towards the planet. Magnetically, sunspot AR3157 is connected to nearby sunspot AR3156. If one goes off, it could trigger an explosion in the other, boosting the odds of a significant flare, the report added further.
Effects Of Solar Activity On Earth
When charged particles from a CME reach areas near Earth, they can trigger intense lights in the sky, called auroras. When particularly strong, a CME can also interfere in power utility grids, which at their worst can cause electricity shortages and power outages. Solar flares and CMEs are the most powerful explosions in our solar system.
This animation shows how coronal mass ejections can blow out from the Sun, interfere with Earths magnetic fields , and cause auroras . Credit: NASA/Walt Feimer
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What Are Solar Flares
A solar flare is a tremendous explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in ‘twisted’ magnetic fields is suddenly released.
In a matter of just a few minutes they heat material to many millions of degrees and produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including from radio waves to x-rays and gamma rays.
Scientists classify solar flares according to their brightness in the x-ray wavelengths. There are three categories: X-class flares are big they are major events that can trigger radio blackouts around the whole world and long-lasting radiation storms in the upper atmosphere.
M-class flares are medium-sized they generally cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare.
Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.
Solar flares are different to ‘coronal mass ejections’ , which were once thought to be initiated by solar flares. CMEs are huge bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours. Although some are accompanied by flares, it is now known that most CMEs are not associated with flares.
This has important implications for understanding and predicting the effects of solar activity on the Earth and in space. If a CME collides with the Earth, it can excite a geomagnetic storm.
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They can impact satellite communications as well as cause radio blackouts.
In 1989, a strong solar eruption shot so many electrically charged particles at Earth that the Canadian Province of Quebec lost power for nine hours.
Communications usually return to normal once a solar storm is over.
One good thing about solar storms is that they can produce very pretty natural light displays like the Northern Lights.
They’re not always good news for migratory animals that rely on Earth’s magnetic field for navigation.
Creatures that do this include some birds, sharks, and sea turtles.
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Types Of Solar Flares
There are five classes of solar flares, according to NOAA . Their designation depends on the intensity of X-rays emitted. Each class letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output, similar to the Richter scale that measures the strength of earthquakes.
According to NASA , X-class flares are the most powerful solar flares. Then there are M-class flares that are 10 times smaller than X-class flares, then C-class, B-class and finally A-class flares which are too weak to significantly affect Earth.
Within each letter class, a finer scale from 1 to 9 gives the flare assessment greater precision with larger numbers representing more powerful flares within the class.
However, X-class flares can break this nine-point rating mold with higher ratings, since there is no class more powerful than X-class. According to NASA, a 2003 solar flare was so powerful it overloaded the sensors measuring it. The sensors reported an X28 flare before cutting out.
Fortunately, X-class flares occur on average about 10 times per year, and flares as powerful as the one recorded in 2003 are even less likely.
What Happens When Solar Particles Hit The Earth
As the particles erupted during the CME reach Earth, they interact with Earth’s magnetic field and spark Geomagnetic storms. When solar particles hit Earth, the radio communications and the power grid is affected when it hits the planet’s magnetic field. It can cause power and radio blackouts for several hours or even days. However, electricity grid problems occur only if the solar flare is extremely large.
Auroras too get formed on the poles. In fact, Geomagnetic storms are often the precursor to stunning streaks of green light across the sky known as Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis.
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Examples Of Large Solar Flares
The most powerful flare ever observed is thought to be the flare associated with the 1859 Carrington Event. While no soft X-ray measurements were made at the time, the magnetic crochet associated with the flare was recorded by ground-based magnetometers allowing the flares strength to be estimated after the event. Using these magnetometer readings, its soft X-ray class has been estimated to be greater than X10. The soft X-ray class of the flare has also been estimated to be around X50.
In modern times, the largest solar flare measured with instruments occurred on 4 November 2003. This event saturated the GOES detectors, and because of this its classification is only approximate. Initially, extrapolating the GOES curve, it was estimated to be X28. Later analysis of the ionospheric effects suggested increasing this estimate to X45. This event produced the first clear evidence of a new spectral component above 100 GHz.
Other large solar flares also occurred on 2 April 2001 , 28 October 2003 , 7 September 2005 , 9 August 2011 , 7 March 2012 , and 6 September 2017 .
To Our Readers And Community
We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving your photos! To those of you whove already posted a photo to our community, thank you.
Bottom line: Sun activity for December 9, 2022: Back to low. A mild geomagnetic storm was registered overnight last night.
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