Sun Releases Strongest Flare Recorded Since 2006
Early this week, the sun released a solar flare that shut down communications made via satellite. Radio blackouts were reported around the globe. Fortunately, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solar Dynamics Observatory was able to capture images of the solar flares that the sun released last Sept. 6.
Because the sun is a giant star, solar flares are normally recorded and monitored to determine its recent activity. It happens when the sun's magnetic field reconnects, sending a blast of energy outward. Coincidentally, the most recent solar flare was directed to Earth, which causes radiation storms in the upper atmosphere. In turn, this caused radio blackouts.
According to NASA, the solar flare received the X-Class category, which is where the most powerful sun-storms are recorded. The sun released two solar flares this week. The first was classified as X2.2, which was quickly followed by another identified as X9.3. The second solar flare is the strongest recorded since 2006 when X9.0 happened.
"It was accompanied by radio emissions that suggest there's a potential for a CME," NASA's Space Weather Prediction Center space scientist Rob Steenburgh told Space.com. "However, we have to wait until we get some coronagraph imagery that would capture that event for a definitive answer."
Although the solar flare temporarily disabled most of the satellite communications done on that day, NASA also iterated that despite its strength, the radiation from the solar flare will not be able to penetrate through the Earth's protective layer. Disrupted communications is the worst it can do.
Furthermore, the solar cycle that began last December 2008, indicates that activity is slowly heading to the solar minimum, a point where eruptions such as the most recent one become increasingly rare.
Communications have since been restored as the radio blackout passed just a few hours after the incident.
