On September 6, the sun let its presence be felt by unleashing two massive solar flares. The first eruption, classified as an X2.2 flare, the strongest since 2008, occurred at 5:10 a.m. ET. Shortly after, at 8:02 a.m ET, the star spewed out a bigger, and more dramatic, X9.3 flare — the strongest on record since December 2006.
Solar flares, or storms, beginning with an explosion usually above a sunspot, the area where strong magnetic fields poke through the sun's surface. When these spots become unstable, they erupt, releasing significant amounts of energy. Solar flares are classified into one of five categories — A, B, C, M, or X — with each letter indicating an explosion that is ten times stronger than the previous one. The most powerful X …show more content…
However, the coronal mass ejections (CME) — clouds of protons and other charged particles — that follow the flares within about 20 minutes can disrupt our satellite systems, GPS tracking devices, and power grids. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the September 6 CMEs were powerful enough to black out both high-frequency radio waves and low-frequency communication used in navigation, for about an hour, on the sunlit side of Earth.However, the slight inconvenience is well worth it, given that when the electrically-charged particles enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases like oxygen and nitrogen, they spark auroras. The incredible light shows are typically observed closer to the northern and southern hemisphere poles because the Earth’s magnetic field attracts the particles toward them. However, the recent powerful CMEs lit up the skies across northern latitudes and could be seen all the way from Finland and Scotland in Europe to Kansas and Ohio in the US.The occurrence of the flares just as we are moving into a solar minimum, the quietest period of the sun’s 11-year periodic activity cycle, is causing some concern. However, scientists say the eruptions, are just a part of our star’s activity. Besides, AR 2673, which fired off a final X8.2-class flare on September 10,
Solar flares, or storms, beginning with an explosion usually above a sunspot, the area where strong magnetic fields poke through the sun's surface. When these spots become unstable, they erupt, releasing significant amounts of energy. Solar flares are classified into one of five categories — A, B, C, M, or X — with each letter indicating an explosion that is ten times stronger than the previous one. The most powerful X …show more content…
However, the coronal mass ejections (CME) — clouds of protons and other charged particles — that follow the flares within about 20 minutes can disrupt our satellite systems, GPS tracking devices, and power grids. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the September 6 CMEs were powerful enough to black out both high-frequency radio waves and low-frequency communication used in navigation, for about an hour, on the sunlit side of Earth.However, the slight inconvenience is well worth it, given that when the electrically-charged particles enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases like oxygen and nitrogen, they spark auroras. The incredible light shows are typically observed closer to the northern and southern hemisphere poles because the Earth’s magnetic field attracts the particles toward them. However, the recent powerful CMEs lit up the skies across northern latitudes and could be seen all the way from Finland and Scotland in Europe to Kansas and Ohio in the US.The occurrence of the flares just as we are moving into a solar minimum, the quietest period of the sun’s 11-year periodic activity cycle, is causing some concern. However, scientists say the eruptions, are just a part of our star’s activity. Besides, AR 2673, which fired off a final X8.2-class flare on September 10,