solar flare nasa

US radio disruptions as historic sunspot fires a ‘remarkable’ X-flare

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A powerful solar flare has spewed from the same sunspot that produced the spectacular Northern Lights displays on May 10.

The May 29 solar flare was measured as a class X1.4 eruption, one of the most powerful types of solar flares, and caused radio blackouts in the US and Western Europe.

The sunspot that caused the solar flare, now called AR3697, was called AR3664 and was about 15 times the size of Earth when it released a series of coronal mass ejections that crashed into Earth, creating a geomagnetic storm that produced auroras that were visible everywhere . 50 US states and even Mexico.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory of the sun releasing a solar flare on May 29, 2024. The area circled in white is the sunspot releasing the bright solar flare.

NASA/SDO

After spending several weeks on the far side of the star as it rotated, the sunspot is back, and although it is smaller, it is still emitting outbursts and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

“Region 3697 (old region 3664) is at it again! A long-lived the dayside is definitely feeling this #Radioblackout at R3 level!”, space weather physicist Tamitha Skov posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

Solar flares are categorized as A, B, C, M, or X, depending on their strength, with the X class being the most powerful type. Each category is 10 times stronger than the previous one.

“Solar flares are usually associated with large and complex sunspots and occur when the sudden release of magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere. The greater the magnetic energy released, the stronger the solar flare will be,” said Rami Qahwaji, one of the researchers. professor of visual computing and space weather researcher at Britain’s University of Bradford Newsweek.

Solar flares cause radio blackouts because they increase the ionization of Earth’s ionosphere. Radio communications, especially those using radio frequency (HF) bands, rely on the ionosphere to reflect signals back to Earth, making long-distance communications possible.

The X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a solar flare ionize the ionosphere, causing it to absorb radio waves instead of reflecting them. This absorption mainly affects the HF band (3 to 30 MHz), leading to communication disruptions.

In addition to causing radio blackouts, solar flares can have a variety of other consequences for both technology and human activities. Increased radiation can damage or disrupt satellites’ electronics and sensors, and increased atmospheric drag caused by heating and expansion of Earth’s upper atmosphere can alter satellite orbits, requiring adjustments to avoid collisions or loss of function.

In addition, elevated radiation levels at high altitudes pose a health risk to flight crews and passengers, or astronauts aboard the ISS. Solar flares can also disrupt the accuracy of GPS signals, leading to navigation errors.

At the same time as this solar flare, a CME was also released from the sunspot, which is currently on its way to Earth.

“This explosion was remarkable for its duration. The X-class phase alone lasted more than an hour — enough time to lift a CME from the Sun’s atmosphere,” spaceweather.com wrote.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center predicts that the CME could collide with Earth between May 31 and June 1, creating a G2 geomagnetic storm. This could cause aurora to become visible further south than normal, but not as far south as during the May 10 G5 storm.

“The aurora may become visible over some states in the Northern and Upper Midwest, from New York to Idaho,” the center said in an advisory.