Sun unleashes massive solar flare, the biggest in 2014

Tags

2014, NASA, SDO, solar flare, sun, video

The sun released a “significant” solar flare Monday – a monster in fact, according to some media reports. The powerful blast of radiation doesn’t seem to be headed our way, but if it were, NASA says not to worry. Earth’s atmosphere protects us from being harmed by radiation. However, we might have some problems tweeting.

… when intense enough [solar flares] can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.”

Not good. Here’s more about Monday’s flare:

These @NASA_SDO images from Feb. 24, show the first moments of an X-class flare http://t.co/qw1Kphfxuz pic.twitter.com/3Sl6ZXrMPR

— NASA Goddard Images (@NASAGoddardPix) February 25, 2014

Some believe a large enough flare could cause damage to the North American electrical grid, the effects of which could leave Western nations in the dark for months. But that’s for another time. If you’re interested in learning more about solar flares and the sun’s active cycle – which is happening right now!! – check out some of our past posts.

Sun releases X-Class solar flares; first in 2013

Tags

2013, flares, NASA, solar flare, x-class

It’s been awhile since I posted anything about solar flares. (Though, it’s also been awhile since I’ve written about anything in general  … Hopefully the astronomy news hanging out in the dark tunnels of my email archive will soon see the light.) Anyway, here’s a video of X-Class solar flares, a first for 2013.

The video was taken earlier this month when, within a 24-hour time period, the sun emitted three fairly large flares.

Infographic: Sun storms and solar flares

Tags

CME, solar flare, solar storms, sunstorms

With all this talk about solar storms, I figured it’d be a good idea to post this fabulous informational graphic from Space.com.

Learn more about solar storms in this Space Oddities post.

Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Powerful solar storm headed for Earth Tuesday

Tags

CME, coronal mass ejection, magnetic storm, solar flare, space weather prediction

An extremely fast coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading straight for Earth tomorrow, Jan. 24, according to NASA.

A CME is a violent, and quite sudden, release of gas and magnetic fields from our Sun.

This solar flare, an M8.7-class, would be the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. And it’s traveling at 1,400 miles per second. Wow!

According to Spaceweather.com, “M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare.”

Learn more about these powerful storms here.

Solar storm headed for Earth Monday

Tags

aurora, CME, solar flare, solar storm

A massive solar storm is headed toward Earth tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 28, according to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

“On Saturday, Nov. 26, a solar flare hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) at about 930 km/s or 2 million mph into Space. This fast moving CME will reach Earth on Monday, Nov. 28. The impact of the ionized particle cloud could trigger a geomagnetic storm with some aurorae sightings in high latitudes,” according to NASA.

Read more about solar storms and CME’s here and here.

More updates to come.

Photo of the week: Solar flare

Tags

solar dynamics observatory, solar flare, solar maximum, video, x-class flares

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of the X1.9 class solar flare from November 3, 2011. Credit: NASA/SDO

From NASA:

Solar flares are giant explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The number of solar flares increases approximately every 11 years, and the sun is currently moving towards another solar maximum, likely in 2013. That means more flares will be coming, some small and some big enough to send their radiation all the way to Earth.

The biggest flares are known as “X-class flares” based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest ones are A-class (near background levels), followed by B, C, M and X.

Read more about solar flares here.

Magnetic storms headed toward Earth

Tags

CME, coronal mass ejection, Solar activity, solar flare, sun, sun storm

An X1.8 flare from Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, captured here with by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/SDO/LMSAL/GOES

We’re headed for a bit of a storm this weekend. The sun has been pretty active the past couple of days and one region in particular has been releasing Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), violent and sudden releases of gas and magnetic fields.

Take a look at this video.
It shows past solar flare and CME eruptions on the sun’s surface:

That energy storm is expected to reach Earth tomorrow, Sept. 11, and/or Monday, Sept. 12, scientists say.

NASA computer models suggest that the latest CME may give a glancing blow to Earth on the morning of September 11, and might create some aurora.

So “glancing blow” equals auroras. Let’s hope it’s just auroras. NASA says that the most recent flare – the fourth in the past week – was considered “moderate.” Additional information is not available.

Pretty sure NASA is utilizing its ability to predict where these solar storms are headed. Read more about that in an earlier Space Oddities post.

However, if a fairly large CME was headed toward Earth, would NASA let us know the full extent of the situation? A large CME could affect our satellites and power grids. Some believe a massive one could send us back into the Stone Age. Scary.

Browsing some solar flare video, I stumbled upon a Youtube video that suggests a correlation between CMEs and earthquakes on Earth. I ignored it, but then I realized that there had been a 6.7-magnitude earthquake yesterday in Vancover Island, Canada. It is a northern region.

This weekend should be the perfect time to test out that CME theory. We’ll see what happens.

Just as the sun’s solar activity increases, NASA discovers way to predict solar storms

Tags

CME, coronal mass ejection, NASA, Solar activity, solar flare, sun, sun storm

It’s coming.

In 2013, the sun’s solar activity will reach a peak and it could lead to some disruptions here on Earth. Those disturbances range from auroras, to radiation storms and, in extreme cases, massive blackouts.

But now scientists feel they’ll be a bit more prepared. Yesterday, NASA announced that it can predict how and when solar activity will effect Earth.

Why is this important? Well, here’s some background.

The sun has a fairly regular cycle. About every 11 years, the sun goes through a cycle of low and high activity. During a low phase, or solar minimum, there aren’t that many sun spots visible on the sun’s surface. During a high phase, or solar maximum, there can be hundreds of visible sun spots.  Take a look at the graph below. It shows an 11-year cycle beginning in 1996. You can see how how the activity on the sun’s surface intensifies around 2001.

Courtesy of NASA

During times of high activity, the sun suddenly – and quite violently – releases gas and magnetic fields called CMEs, or coronal mass ejections.

According to a release on NASA’s Web site,

CMEs are large clouds of charged particles that are ejected from the sun over the course of several hours and can carry up to ten billion tons of plasma. They expand away from the sun at speeds as high as a million miles an hour. A CME can make the 93-million-mile journey to Earth in just two to four days.

A large CME could power the United States for a million years, according to NASA. While that sounds pretty cool, we can’t really harness that power. Well, not yet. A large CME could disrupt power grids, pipelines, and satellites. With the ability to predict solar weather, we on Earth can be a bit more prepared if a large CME were heading our way.

Want more information about solar flares and CME’s? Check out this video: