Mflare from sun12/26/2023 ![]() There have been a lot of jokes and memes about the year 2020 and its clear propensity for escalating chaos and uncertainty. As a result, solar scientists will need to confirm that sunspots are proliferating for several more months before they can definitely identify when the minimum occurred, according to NASA. That said, it is still premature to declare that the Sun is rising from its slumber because the solar minimum is the absolute nadir of sunspots in cycle. Given that this cycle got started in 2008, the recent M-flare may be a sign that the Sun is more or less on schedule with its normal 11-year period. A similar solar flare had resulted in radio signals being disrupted in Japan and Russia earlier this month.īut on the brighter side, the solar flares may also produce visually appealing Northern Lights or auroras on Thursday, June 23.įor weather, science, space, and COVID-19 updates on the go, download The Weather Channel App (on Android and iOS store).During its previous solar cycle, the Sun experienced two peaks of activity-known as solar maximums-in 20, before it quieted down. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. ![]() The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center has forecast a 25-30% chance of M-class flares and a 5-10% chance of X-class flares until Friday, June 24.ĭespite being the second-strongest form of solar flare, M-class flares are relatively unobtrusive and usually only cause modest radio blackouts. "The fast-growing sunspot has doubled in size in only 24 hours," he said on Wednesday, adding that the magnetic field that surrounds it has the potential to blast M-class solar flares toward Earth. Tony Phillips, the author of, made similar observations as he expressed his astonishment at the rate at which the sunspot has grown. Thereafter, it continued to grow in the subsequent 48 hours. Alex Young from EarthSky, the Sunspot AR3038 more than doubled in size between Sunday and Monday, making it several times wider than Earth's diameter. However, one sunspot in particular has since exceeded the experts' expectations and has doubled in size for three consecutive days! Sunspot the size of nearly three Earths continues to growĪccording to NASA heliophysicist C. Eight new sunspots on the Earth-facing side ![]() And these sunspots usually give rise to solar flares - beams of electromagnetic radiation capable of causing power grid failures and such down here on Earth. These planet-sized 'spots' appear darker than the rest of the Sun because they're cooler than their surrounding areas. If you're wondering what sunspots are, they are precisely what the word sounds like: spots on the Sun. This time, it is the surfacing of sunspots that has the space weather experts tied up in knots. And thanks to its temper tantrums, the solar weather has been pretty dynamic, with new reports of solar storms brewing on the Sun's surface emerging almost every other day. The Sun has been acting up more and more lately, as it approaches the end of its eleven-year cycle. ![]() But what if we told you this gigantic object was shooting out beams of fire and radiation in the Earth's direction? The red hot ball of fire that happens to be the centre of our solar system seems pretty daunting as it is.
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