Massive sunspot spanning 15 Earths poses a threat of severe radio disruptions
A sunspot the width of 15 Earths has appeared on the Sun. The AR3664 spot could bring serious consequences, including disruptions in radio network operations. The place has emitted a massive X-class flare toward Earth.
10 May 2024 07:38
A massive sunspot spanning the width of 15 Earths has emerged on the Sun. As reported by livescience.com, it's of a size that could potentially lead to effects comparable to those experienced during the solar storm 1859. Given today's highly electrified world, the disruptions to our day-to-day lives might be significantly more severe.
Live Science indicates that the AR3664 sunspot has recently expanded, becoming one of the largest and most active sunspots detected in this solar cycle. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning on Tuesday, May 7 (Eastern Time), concerning the heightened risk of solar flares due to this sunspot.
Recently, there have been numerous powerful solar flares. The climax of a massive X-class flare, the most extreme classification, occurred on May 9 at 5:13 a.m. Eastern Time. Successive classes are ten times smaller than their predecessors. After the X class comes the M class, followed by the C, B, and A classes. A-class flares are considered insignificant. Within each class, the strength of the flares is rated on a scale from 1 to 10 (for X class, these values can be higher).
We've experienced many intense flares recently. According to data from spaceweatherlive.com, in the last 24 hours, there has been an X-class flare with a strength of 3.98. Live Science discusses the impact of a previous X-class flare of strength 2.25, which resulted in disruptions in shortwave radio signals across Europe and Africa.
Communication outages are caused by the powerful bursts of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted during these eruptions. This radiation travels towards Earth at the speed of light, ionizing the upper parts of the atmosphere. It's important to distinguish this radiation from coronal mass ejections (CMEs), where plasma and magnetic fields move faster.
Geomagnetic storms and auroras on Earth
According to NOAA predictions, the coming days are set to be filled with remarkable celestial events. The impending geomagnetic storm could lead to a spectacle of auroras visible from Earth. Several of these flares were associated with coronal mass ejections. We can anticipate geomagnetic solid storms on May 10 and 11 nights.
