Yashashee Malpathak
www.mediaeyenews.com
NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), which follows the Sun 24 hours a day, captured an intense flash at 10:29 a.m. EDT on 3rd July. The solar flare, which erupted from the freshly formed sunspot AR2838, was the most intense since September 2017. The solar flare collided with the top of our atmosphere, resulting in a shortwave radio blackout across the Atlantic Ocean and coastal areas.
Massive explosions on the sun are known as solar flares. They shoot energy, light, and high-speed particles into space. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs or solar magnetic storms, are frequently associated with these flares. Every 11 years or so, the number of solar flares increases. A solar flare can be described as an eruption on the sun's surface. Its duration can be anywhere from minutes to hours. Solar flares are said to be the solar system’s largest explosive events.
They happen when the powerful magnetic fields in and around the sun reconnect. When the sun's magnetic fields intersect and reconnect, loops tens of times the size of Earth shoot up from its surface. In the most extreme cases, this reconnection process can provide enough energy to power a billion hydrogen bombs. They are often associated with active regions called sunspots where the magnetic fields are the strongest.
Normally, a solar flare is only visible when studying the Sun at a single wavelength. An extremely large flare, on the other hand, will occasionally release enough energy to be seen in the unfiltered light from the Sun. On September 1, 1859, there was such a white light outburst which was also the first solar flare ever recorded in the astronomical literature. Two scientists, Richard C. Carrington and Richard Hodgson were independently watching sunspots at the time when they noticed a large flare in white light.
Classification of flares is done according to their strength. The smallest ones are categorized as ‘A-class’, followed by B-class, C-class, M-class and finally X-class, which is the largest. Like the Richter scale of earthquakes, each letter represents a ten-fold increase in the intensity or the energy output. For example, the X-class flare is 10 times an M-class and 100 times a C-class flare. Each letter class further has a finer scale from 1 to 9.
The C-class flares are too weak to have an impact on Earth. M-class flares can generate brief radio blackouts and minor radiation storms at the poles. The most harmful are X-class flares. Although X is the last level, there are flares more than 10 times the power of an X, so X-class flares can go higher than 9. Strong flares can cause long-lasting radiation storms which can harm satellites and even get airline passengers flying near the poles in small radiation doses. X-flares also carry the potential to create global transmission problems and worldwide blackouts.
Due to the seriousness of the effects of strong solar flares on the earth, NASA and NOAA regularly monitor the sun. It helps scientists to forecast and identify space weather occurrences such as solar flares and CMEs. It aids in the provision of early warnings, allowing governments and companies to defend their technological infrastructure in such scenarios.
