Sun flares have the potential to interfere with radio waves.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — A large sunspot faces Earth on Monday (20/6/2022). Reported from NewsweekWednesday (22/6/2022), these large sunspots can send sun flare towards us.
Sunspots are dark areas on the sun’s surface associated with intense bursts of radiation. Sunspots appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the sun’s surface.
Sunspots are relatively cool because they form over areas where the sun’s magnetic field is very strong. It is so strong that it prevents some of the heat in the sun from reaching its surface.
This tangled magnetic field can sometimes suddenly rearrange itself. When that happens, a burst of light and radiation is suddenly pushed into from the sun in the form of a solar flare.
The sunspot that is getting bigger recently is known as AR3038. Footage from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on Sunday (19/6/2022) shows how sun spots has evolved over the past few days, twisting and turning.
On Sunday (19/6/2022), the AR3038 sunspot was large. Monday (20/6/2022) is huge, says the SpaceWeather.com website. “Fast-growing sunspots have multiplied in just 24 hours.”
The magnetic field associated with sunspots means it has the potential to send an M-class solar flare to Earth (second strongest type). However, it is not known whether this will happen.
As of Monday (20/6/2022) morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has not issued a solar flare warning.
If strong enough, solar flares can cause disturbance on Earth, disrupting radio communication networks and navigation systems. This can cause problems for people who work in the marine or aviation industry.
It’s worth noting that M-class beacons probably won’t be too distracting in any case. Although M-class solar flares are the second most powerful type of solar flare, they only tend to cause moderate radio outage events.
The M9 beacon, the strongest of the M class, can cause tens of minutes of loss of radio contact in the affected area of Earth and degradation of low-frequency navigation signals.
There are also less common class X flares that can cause more serious problems. Class X beacons are the most powerful beacon type.
The X20 beacon, for example, would cause a complete high-frequency radio blackout on the daytime side of Earth for several hours, and ships and aircraft would be unable to use navigation signals during this time. Fortunately, such flares are extremely rare, estimated to occur less than once every 11 years.
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