The Sun reveals its most powerful solar flare in years
The Sun is experiencing a fierce solar storm, one of the most intense solar flares seen in the last 30 years
An X-class solar flare captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory in 2013. Surya destroyed four such flames in the last two days.
The sun is showing off. The star released several strong and bright solar flares on Sunday, including one of the most powerful outbursts seen in decades.
Far from the stable glowing sphere we sometimes imagine, the Sun’s surface is made up of swirling plasma thrown to and fro by rotating magnetic fields. When these fields rupture, they can eject a huge burst of energy and charged particles into space – a solar flare.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Laboratory observed one such explosion yesterday at 7:33 a.m. EST and gave it an X-class ranking – the most intense. Over the past night, three more X-class flares have erupted amid dozens of smaller activities. But the crescendo came at 6:37 p.m. EST, when the sun streaked the fire X8.1-class burst. According to this, it is the brightest flare since October 2024 and among the top 20 since 1996. SpaceWeatherLive.com.
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Astronomers expect most of the expelled plasma to pass Earth sometime Thursday. Its particles could collide with our atmosphere, potentially causing a spectacular astronomical display of the northern lights. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center is carefully monitoring the area of ​​the sun that is responsible for the flares, with more expected activity still to come.
The recent explosions are the latest in an unusually stormy spell for our star. The Sun’s activity fluctuates on an 11-year time line, and while the star is considered beyond the peak of its current solar cycle, bright solar flares may continue for some time as it winds down.
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