A NASA spacecraft observed two strong solar flares on Sunday, just hours after a display of Northern Lights reached as far south as central California.
The Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of X- class solar flares at 9:40 a.m. ET and 11:27 a.m. ET on August 5. Solar activity is currently at a 23-year high, with an imminent strong meteor shower making this weekend a potential double-header for sky-watchers.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy radiation from the sun that travel at light speed and take just eight minutes to reach Earth. They can cause radio blackouts, electric power grids, and navigation signals to be disrupted, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
The space agency first reported an X1.7 flare from sunspot AR3767. Hours later, it reported an X1.1 flare emanating from AR3780. Solar flares are produced by sunspots, regions of magnetic activity on the sun’s surface. The most intense type of solar flare is an X-class flare, and the number indicates its strength.
The current solar cycle, which began in 2019, will last about 11 years. According to NASA, the strongest solar flare of this cycle was an X8.7 on May 14, 2024.
Solar flares may lead to displays of the Northern Lights much farther south than is typical. Last weekend, a weaker M8-class solar flare triggered a stronger-than-expected G3-class geomagnetic storm that almost reached G4.
G2 storms can generally be seen as far south as New York and Idaho; for G3, it’s Illinois and Oregon; for G4, it’s Alabama and northern California. According to SpaceWeather.com, Saturday’s aurora was visible to the naked eye from the White Mountains, California, at 37 degrees north latitude.
What will happen over the next few days is unclear, but keep an eye on NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, specifically its latest “aurora view line,” which represents the southernmost locations from which you may see the aurora on the northern horizon.
The solar wind causes the Northern Lights, a stream of charged particles from the sun that strikes Earth’s magnetic field, accelerates down its magnetic field lines and creates ovals of green and red around the poles. It’s the coronal mass ejections that often occur in the wake of solar flares that charge-up the solar wind, and ultimately cause aurora.
The sun has a roughly 11-year solar cycle during which its magnetic activity waxes and wanes. It’s now on the cusp of “solar maximum” – its peak period of activity – which is determined by counting sunspots on the sun’s surface.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2024/08/06/nasa-sees-two-big-flares-on-the-sun-after-northern-lights-in-california/