Sun unleashes powerful solar flare, Nasa says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Wednesday 06 November 2024 16:00 GMT


The Sun has unleashed a powerful solar flare, Nasa has said. The flare, designated X2.3, belongs to the most intense X class of flares. It was spotted by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which is constantly monitoring the surface of the Sun in part to spot such events.

Solar flares are strong blasts of energy that come out of the Sun and can cause danger to life on Earth. They bring the northern and southern lights, but can also cause problems for communications systems, electrical grids and other important infrastructure.

The Sun is currently entering the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, during which such solar weather is likely to increase. Experts have repeatedly warned that a particularly strong solar flare could damage critical parts of the infrastructure on which life depends.

Flares of this strength are “generally not common, although not necessarily unusual” when the Sun is at its solar maximum, as it is now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/sun-solar-flare-nasa-b2642507.html

[cactusfractal]

1. Cool. Burn it all. nt

[Igel]

2. A few links.

For those who want fewer paraphrases and interpretations between actual source and the ear.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

There's a better link but it's on my school computer which is, weirdly, at school.

A good all-purpose link is https://spaceweather.com/ . It's largely the trough at which science-y sites drink and sup, which get masticated and up-barfed for less science-y sites like, um, the usual run-of-the-mill newspapers (of whatever political stripe).

The Sun's at/near/past solar maximum (until it's past, it's hard to know if it's a maximum and it's been esp. angry the last year or so, with what looked like a peak happening earlier than expected but not quite dying down).

I have my kids "play" with the actual SDO site, when you get to look at feeds from STEREO and other solar observatories in real time (with archival video) and change wavelengths and instruments on/at the solar observatories.

[Roy Rolling]

5. You had me at stereo

Great sources and methodology of legitimate science. Well done. Solar flares are not uncommon, only the fact none have directly hit the Earth in the digital era is rare.

Flares from the Sun are like a rifle shot from 93 million miles away. Flares shoot out randomly in all directions, but if the Earth is in the direct path we are severely wounded.

Right now, we are lucky. Relying on luck to protect 2024 digital infrastructure is our actual, 24/7 default situation.

[Prairie Gates]

3. Come, Armageddon, come!

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Snort!

[rubbersole]

4. It's because of Gay Days at Disney.

Or maybe it's a recharge for the Jewish space lasers! 🛰 Just asking questions.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Space laser test

would be my guess....

[2naSalit]

8. At this point...

The possibility of a solar flare disabling starlink... might be a good thing in the long run. We functioned just fine without it.

[Magoo48]

9. Well, that's just dandy, now we've pissed off the Sun.

[2naSalit]

11. Was bound to happen...

I am thinking though, that it isn't just the sun, probably the whole universe.

[Magoo48]

14. You're probably right.

[txwhitedove]

10. Oh wow, i just read "One Second After" by Wm R. Forstchen, all about likely results on our lives.

[Marthe48]

12. Maybe traitor will get a good look

[defacto7]

13. This will be just a glancing blow.

Nothing like the triple hit we got a few months ago where the aurora was seen as far south as 20 degrees north latitude. Satellites prepared for those and survived easily. There will be more to come, though. We're hardly half way through the solar max.

www.spaceweather.com is a good source for sun updates.

[LudwigPastorius]

15. The election results gave it the agita.