#X-ray #SolarFlares
6-hr max: M6 1443 UT Sep12
24-hr: X1 0943 UT Sep12
NEW #SUNSPOT EMITS #X-FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites detected a strong X1.3-class solar flare today (Sept. 12th @ 0943 UTC). It came from a new and apparently large sunspot emerging over the sun's southeastern limb. The sunspot is not facing Earth now, but it will be early next week,
The number of #sunspots has been increasing at an exponential rate for the past couple of months.
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G3): A series of three CMEs is now heading for Earth. The first two, launched by M-class flares on August 7th, are relatively minor. The third, launched by yesterday's #X-flare (described below), is more potent. Striking Earth in succession on Aug. 9th, 10th, and 11th, the three CMEs could spark geomagnetic storms as strong as category G3 with mid-latitude auroras in the USA and Europe. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE AND HALO CME: Active sunspot AR3777 just produced its most powerful solar flare yet--an X1.3-class explosion on Aug. 8th (1935 UT). NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:
Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout from North America to the Hawaiian islands. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare.
Of greater interest is the coronal mass ejection (CME). Soon after the flare, SOHO coronagraphs detected a halo #CME heading straight for #Earth:
#X-CLASS #SOLARFLARE: Departing sunspot AR3664 (3697) produced another #X-flare today (1108 UT). The X1.5-class explosion occured just beyond the sun's western limb, and was partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun. As a result, it was not very geoeffective. The explosion did not reverse the decline of an ongoing radiation storm (described below), nor did it produce an Earth-directed CME.
#om namah shivaya
ANOTHER #X-FLARE: Old sunspot AR3664 (now AR3697) isn't as big as it used to be, but it is still very active. Today at 1437 UT, it produced an #X1.4-class #solarflare:
Note: The jiggling of the #sun in this movie is not caused by the X-flare. Calibration offsets were underway during the flare.
Extreme ultraviolet radiation produced a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal at all frequencies below 30 MHz.
This long-duration flare almost certainly hurled a CME into space. The US Air Force is reporting a Type II solar radio burst most likely produced by shock waves in the leading edge of a CME. Within the radio burst, frequency drift rates suggest an expansion velocity near 900 km/s (2 million mph). Confirmation awaits fresh data from SOHO coronagraphs.
THE STRONGEST #X-FLARE YET: Giant sunspot AR3664 unleashed another X-flare today (May 11th @ 0139 UT)--its strongest yet. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a bright #ultravolet #flash from the category #X5.8 #explosion:
#Radiation from the flare caused a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean. Ham radio operators and mariners may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare's peak.
We don't yet know if this flare hurled a #CME into space. If it did, it could have a grazing Earth-directed component.
#X-FLARE CHAMPION OF SOLAR CYCLE 25: Active sunspot AR3663 produced two more X-flares today, a pair of X1's on May 8th at 0145 UT and 0509 UT. This makes it the most active sunspot of #Solar #Cycle 25 so far.
Since May 3rd, AR3663 has tallied six X-flares, more than any other #sunspot in the past 7 years. It may continue to run up the score as it approaches the sun's western limb later this week.
EARTH-DIRECTED #CME: A CME is coming. It was hurled into space earlier today by a roiling series of explosions in the magnetic canopy of giant sunspot AR3664. This movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows the CME leaving the sun bracketed by Venus (right) and Jupiter (left):
A NOAA forecast model predicts the CME will reach Earth late on May 10th, sparking G1- to G2-class geomagnetic storms on May 11th.
#sun
A second CME might be following close behind this one. You can see a hint of it emerging near the end of the movie,
https://spaceweather.com/
PARTIALLY ECLIPSED #X-FLARE: Yesterday, May 16th, Earth-orbiting satellites detected an M9.6-class solar flare from a sunspot hiding behind the sun's southeastern limb. It was only percentage points away from being an X-flare. In fact, it probably was an X-flare partially eclipsed by the edge of the sun.
Although the underlying sunspot was hidden from view, it nevertheless managed to touch Earth. Radiation ionized the top of our planet's atmosphere, causing a deep shortwave radio blackout over North America: map.
"I knew something significant was happening on the #sun today when all the normal radio stations I monitor suddenly faded," reports amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico
#X-CLASS #SOLAR-FLARE: The sun produced another #X-flare on Jan. 10th, this time from new sunspot AR3186. This movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the X1-class explosion hurling a plume of debris into space:
Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over the South Pacific: blackout map. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed fadeouts and other unusual propagation effects at frequencies below ~30 MHz.
This is the 3rd X-flare in a week, and each flare has come from a different #sun spot. It's not just a single active region; the whole sun is becoming more active. NOAA forecasters say there is a 30% chance of another X-flare on Jan. 11th.
19 November 2022 - #Extreme #Solar #Activity Due to a Special Planetary Alignment?
Hello Everybody
On 19 November 2022 - just a couple of weeks away - there is a very special #planetary #alignment set to occur. It is a variation of a pattern that has been shown previously to be associated with major earth/solar changes.
In the video below, I provide a number of past examples of variations of the core pattern in question, detailing how they have produced unusual solar activity (935 AD, 1921 AD, 1973 AD), as verified by historical records. In doing so, I thus propose that the conjunction pattern set to occur on 19 November 2022 may also produce notable disruptive effects. Quite possibly an #X-flare event even. The analysis is as follows:
