NASA Recaptures Explosion of Solar Flares, How Does it Look?

KOMPAS.com – Earlier this week, Solar Dynamics Observatory NASA again managed to catch the flare Sun from overactive sunspots that trigger radio blackouts, as well as stunning displays of the aurora on earth.

The spacecraft, observing Earth’s host star from 22,000 miles or 36,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface, captured a flare, classified as a moderate-strength type M, on March 31, 2022 at 2:35 p.m. EDT (1835 GMT).

Live Science writes, the Solar Dynamics Observatory images the entire solar disk at various wavelengths every ten seconds, and provides an image with a resolution 10 times higher than high-definition television.

Also read: ESA Spacecraft Successfully Photographed the Sun from Close Distance, Like What?

This color image specifically shows flares in the extreme ultraviolet part of the spectrum highlighting its high temperatures.

A class M flare is a fairly powerful flare, a sudden release of electromagnetic radiation from the sun that travels at the speed of light.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has rated the flare this time around as M 9.6, which means it’s not too far off to be the strongest type, X-class.

According to NOAA, the flare caused a moderate radio blackout when it hit Earth.

As for sun flare can interfere with high-frequency radio communications, because X-rays and the extreme ultraviolet radiation they emit ionize the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere, the ionosphere.

The ionosphere extends from 30 miles (48 kilometers) to 600 miles (965 kilometers) above the planet’s surface and includes the outermost layer of the atmosphere including the exosphere, thermosphere, and part of the mesosphere.

Under normal circumstances, high-frequency radio waves, which transmit communication signals over long distances, bounce off particles in the upper ionosphere back to Earth.

But, as solar flares fill the lower ionosphere, radio waves lose energy as they pass through, and the atmosphere degrades or even absorbs them.

Also read: Another solar storm is predicted to hit Earth and cause signal interference

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