The sunspot AR3354, which is seven times the width of Earth, released its strongest flare on Sunday, July 2, 2023. As a result, radio networks in several states of the United States (US) and the Pacific Ocean went out. Photo/Space/NASA/SDO
WASHINGTON – Spots sun AR3354, which is seven times the width of Earth, released the strongest flare on Sunday, July 2, 2023. As a result, radio networks in several states of the United States (US) and the Pacific Ocean went out.
Beacon coming out of the sun is seen as a bright ultraviolet flash by NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). The flare is classified as an X-flare, the most powerful type of solar flare ever.
Spaceweather.com reports radiation from the flare ionizing the Earth’s upper atmosphere, resulting in a shortwave radio blackout over the western US and Pacific Ocean for about 30 minutes. Solar physicist Keith Strong shared the stunning flare footage on Twitter.
“X FLARE IN PROGRESS!!! Sunspot region AR3354 just generated an X1.07 flare. It was the 18th X flare during SC25 (Solar cycle 25, current solar cycle),” said Strong, quoted by SINDOnews from the Space page, Tuesday (4/7/2023).
Strong also pointed out on Twitter that June 2023 marked the highest monthly average for the number of sunspots in 21 years. “Highest monthly average sunspot count since September 2002! The month of June 2023 reached 163.4 the highest value for more than 20 years,” he said.
Solar flares form when the magnetic fields around sunspots get tangled, break apart, and then reconnect. Footage shows the flare appears to be aided by a plume of plasma, causing magnetic material to land on sunspot AR3354.
Solar flares are grouped according to their strength, with the smallest flares being called B-flares, then C-flares, and then M-flares. The strongest class of solar flares are X flares as seen from AR3354 on Sunday.
Class solar flares increase in strength massively, just like earthquakes rank on the Richter scale. That means an X-class flare is ten times the power of an M-class flare, and 1,000 times more powerful than a B-class flare.
Long-lasting flares like these are sometimes accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), events in which a magnetic field spews large amounts of stellar material in the form of plasma out of the sun. Although Sunday’s X-flare was long enough to trigger a CME, the solar observatory has yet to see any significant plasma discharge associated with the AR3354 flare or sunspot.
(wib)
2023-07-04 01:27:55
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