Solar

Sunspot AR1476 Visible Without A Telescope

May 10, 2012

Huge sunspot AR1476 is crackling with M-class solar flares and appears to be on the verge of producing something even stronger. The sunspot’s ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic field harbors energy for X-class flares, the most powerful kind. Earth is entering the line of fire as the sunspot rotates across the face of the sun. Sunspot AR1476 is so large, people are noticing it without the aide of a solar telescope. The behemoth appears at sunrise and sunset when the light of the low-hanging sun is occasionally dimmed to human visibility. Alberto Lao sends this picture from Manila, the Phillippines. The sunspot...

Sunspot AR1429 Sends Strong Solar Flare Hurtling Toward Earth

March 11, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Christopher Freemantle captured this image of the Northern Lights from Chena Hot Springs (just outside Fairbanks) in Alaska. The intensity grew until very bright, multicoloured and fast moving auroras were visible. This image was taken with a 4s exposure, Canon 600D, F2.8, ISO 800.

Sunspot AR1429 is still erupting this weekend. On Saturday, March 10th, it produced a powerful M8-class flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory. Space weather scientists use five categories — A, B, C, M and X — to rank solar flares based on their strength and severity. A-class flares are the weakest types of sun storms, while X-class eruptions are the most powerful. The eruption propelled yet another coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud will hit our planet’s magnetosphere on March 12th...

Another Solar Flare Heads Directly For Earth

March 10, 2012

By Michael Muracco

Sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another strong flare, an M6-class eruption on March 9th at 0358 UT. The blast hurled a coronal mass ejection almost directly toward Earth. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will arrive on March 11th at 0649 UT (+/- 7 hr). Strong geomagnetic storms and Aurora, (Northern Lights), are possible when the cloud arrives. The same eruption that hurled the CME toward Earth also produced a monsterous tsunami of plasma on the sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the shadowy but powerful wave rippling away from the blast site: The tsumani...

March 9th: Powerful Solar Flare Brings Possibility For Aurora Activity

March 10, 2011

By Michael Muracco

March 9th ended with a powerful solar flare. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1.5-class explosion from the large sunspot 1166 around 2323 UT, (6:23pm est). A movie from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a bright flash of UV radiation plus some material being hurled away from the Sun: A first look at coronagraph images from NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft suggests that the explosion did propel a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Though this conclusion is preliminary there is a strong possibility for Aurora activity. After four years without any X-flares, the sun has produced two of the powerful blasts in...

Strong X-flare From Giant Sunspot 1158 Could Mean Aurora Activity

February 15, 2011

By Michael Muracco

Strong X-flare From Giant Sunspot 1158 Could Mean Aurora Activity

Sunspot 1158 has unleashed the strongest solar flare in more than four years. The eruption, which peaked at 0156 UT on Feb. 15th, registered X2 on the Richter scale of solar flares. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded an intense flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation. X-flares are the strongest type of solar flare, and this is the first such eruption of new Solar Cycle 24. In addition to flashing Earth with UV radiation, the explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) in our direction. The expanding cloud may be seen in this movie from NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft. Geomagnetic storms...

Sun Erupts In a Tumult of Activity

January 31, 2011

By admin

This morning between 0230 UT and 0600 UT, the northern hemisphere of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. At least two dark magnetic filaments became unstable and lifted off the stellar surface, a B8-class solar flare flashed from sunspot 1109, and a bright coronal mass ejection billowed into space (SOHO movie). Click on the image to play a time-lapse movie from Solar Dynamics Observatory–and pay attention to the circled regions: The eruption is reminiscent of the global event of August 1st, which hurled a CME toward Earth and sparked Northern Lights in the United States as far...