On Friday, the sun emitted a large solar flare when the Earth was under a geomagnetic storm watch due to flares earlier in the week.
The massive solar flare, which measured as a strong X2.2 sun storm, began at 2:38 p.m. It peaked at EST (1938 GMT) and lasted 48 minutes.
Sun Unleashes Most Powerful Solar Flare
According to a US alert, the powerful solar storm lasted one hour and 12 minutes and caused brief radio blackouts on the sunlit side of Earth. NOAA runs the Space Weather Prediction Group. The new flare was captured on video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
According to Spaceweather.com, which records space weather, the latest flare also caused a coronal mass ejection, which is a gigantic eruption of solar plasma that can travel 1 million mph toward Earth. It is expected to arrive on Earth on February 20, where it may also boost the auroras.
A solar flare is a quick and dramatic eruption of energy from the Sun’s surface that causes a tremendous amount of radiation, including X-rays and ultraviolet light, to be released.
Solar flares are frequently followed by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are huge clouds of magnetized plasma ejected from the Sun’s corona and have the ability to travel into space.
Solar flares are classified on a scale of A to X. The most powerful flares are X flares, whereas A, B, and C flares are among the weakest. Moderate M flares and stronger events regularly amplify Earth’s auroras.
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Is There A Solar Cycle?
The Sun’s Solar Cycle is a natural 11-year period of activity caused by the Sun’s magnetic activity. The cycle begins when the Sun’s magnetic field is at its weakest and the number of sunspots is minimal.
The magnetic field becomes more complex as the cycle proceeds, as do the quantity and intensity of sunspots. Sunspots are dark spots on the Sun’s surface caused by magnetic disturbances.
The solar cycle has a significant impact on space weather and can have an impact on Earth’s communication systems, power grids, and other technological infrastructure. Solar storms, for example, can generate geomagnetic storms, which affect communication systems and power grids, resulting in blackouts and other difficulties.
Understanding the solar cycle and projecting future activity is therefore critical for protecting Earth’s technology and infrastructure.
Since 1755, we have been in the 25th solar cycle (when solar sunspot recording began). With a sunspot number of 1.8, our current solar cycle began in December 2019.
The current scientific consensus predicts that solar cycle 25 would be weaker than usual, and these predictions are consistent with the scientific literature.
However, data from the first three years of the cycle, spanning 2020 to 2022, have significantly outperformed the projected values, with the Sun exceeding Solar Cycles 25 expected peak over year early before to the expected peak window.
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