Solar flares are expected to be sent our way as a result of the gaping sunspots.
The two massive sunspot groups, known as AR 2993 and
AR 2994, became visible a few days ago at the northeast limb of the sun after
becoming active while still hidden by the sun's disk. (Image credit: Langkawi
National Observatory, MYSA/MOSTI) |
Two massive swarms of sunspots have appeared on the
sun's surface, indicating that there will be more vivid auroras and potentially
damaging solar flares in the months ahead. Some sunspots are so massive that
they could consume the entire Earth.
The new sunspot groups, known as "active
regions" 2993 and 2994 (AR2993 and AR2994), appear to be followed by a
third sunspot group, which is still hidden beneath the sun's northeastern limb
(or apparent edge) and looks to have triggered a large solar flare that passed
Earth a few days ago.
Each swarm consists of many sunspots that encompass
hundreds of millions of square miles – an extent significantly larger than the
circumference of the Earth. Magnetic perturbations of the apparent photosphere
of the sun cause them, exposing the sun's considerably cooler layers beneath.
Magnetic entanglements and disentanglement on the sun
occur in 11-year cycles, with low and high activity phases in each cycle. Since
1775, when extensive recording of sunspot activity began, solar activity cycles
have been numbered. We are currently in Solar Cycle 25, which has not yet
reached its apex, implying that there will be more sunspot activity in the
future.
In an email to Live Science, solar physicist Dean
Pesnell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said, "I'm confident we'll
see greater [active zones] over the next few years." "Active areas
2993 and 2994 are of average size and do not reflect the best of Solar Cycle
25."
According to Pesnell, the present cycle is likely to
peak in late 2024 or early 2025. Radiation (solar flares) and coronal mass
ejections (CMEs), which are super-hot plasma balls, are two ways that energy
from active regions might be released.
Solar flares and CMEs can produce beautiful auroras,
but they can also pose a threat to power grids, satellites, communications
networks, and possibly even space travellers outside of the Earth's magnetic
field's protection.
The massive X1.1 class solar flare detected on Sunday
(April 17) now seems to be from a third active region of sunspots that's
rotating onto the sun's visible disk behind the other two. (Image credit:
NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory) |
Solar Cycle 25
The sun has already been quite active over the last
three weeks, according to Jan Janssens, a communications specialist at the
Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence in Brussels, and there is no indication
that it will become less active very soon.
Last week, the Earth narrowly avoided a solar plasma
ejection associated to a far older sunspot group.
In an email, Janssens stated, "This scenario is
usual at this period of the solar cycle." "As the solar cycle
approaches its maximum, more complex sunspot patches become apparent,
potentially resulting in solar flares."
According to records, solar activity is currently
roughly the same as it was during the previous solar cycle, and even lower than
it was at this time during the two solar activity cycles before that, he said.
A large class X1.1 flare detected on Sunday (April 17)
now appears to be from a third sunspot group spinning behind AR2993 and AR2994
onto the visible disc of the sun, according to Pesnell, who is also the project
scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
According to NASA, solar flares are classified into
five classes, each ten times more intense than the one before it - A, B, C, M,
and X. The most powerful X-class flares can carry more than ten times the power
of an X1 flare, meaning there's no limit to how huge they can get – the most
powerful on record, in 2003, overwhelmed the sensors at X28.
Solar flares
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
(NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center stated that an X-ray pulse from Sunday's
X1 flare triggered a significant blackout at radio frequencies below 30 MHz
spanning Southeast Asia and Australia.
However, it was found that the CME of star material
produced by the most recent solar flare will not reach Earth.
When CMEs strike the Earth, however, they can have
devastating consequences, such as overloading electricity grids or disrupting
radio communications, or even injuring astronauts in space. They can also
inflict direct damage to satellite electronics and heat the gases in the upper atmosphere,
increasing drag on low-orbit satellites.
"Over the next few years, flares and coronal mass
ejections will become more common, enhancing the risk level of solar
activity," Pesnell predicted.
So far, the contemporary world has escaped the worst
effects of solar storms, and power grid operators are increasingly
"hardening" their technology to withstand such disturbances.
However, during the "Halloween storms" of
2003, some of the worst solar flares in recent memory knocked down power in
areas of Europe and South Africa for several hours.
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