The sun has released an almost non-stop barrage of solar flares previously 24 hours, including nine powerful M-class flares.
On the time of writing, a minimum of seven of the powerful M-flares have all been attributed to the identical giant sunspot region often known as AR3311 because it slowly turns to face Earth.
AR3311 is joined by one other huge sunspot — AR3310 — which was liable for the colossal solar flare on May 16 that caused widespread radio blackouts. The volatile pair are slowly rotating into view and will likely be directly facing us by the weekend.
Solar flares are caused when magnetic energy builds up within the sun’s atmosphere and is released in an intense burst of electromagnetic radiation. They’re categorized by size into lettered groups, with X-class being probably the most powerful. Then there are M-class flares which can be 10 times smaller than X-class flares, then C-class, B-class and at last A-class flares that are too weak to significantly affect Earth.
Inside each class, numbers from 1 to 10 (and beyond, for X-class flares) denote a flare’s relative strength. The strongest flare within the last 24 hours clocked in at M5.3 at 8:40 p.m. ET on May 18 (00:40 GMT on May 19).
A series of shortwave radio blackouts have been triggered by the fusillade of flares, sending a powerful pulse of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation barrelling toward Earth. Traveling on the speed of sunshine, the radiation reaches Earth in only over eight minutes and ionizes the upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere — the thermosphere — triggering shortwave radio blackouts on the sun-lit portion of Earth on the time of impact.
Solar activity is on the rise as a part of solar cycle 25, which scientists predict will peak in 2025. To search out out if there may be a solar flare today and to maintain up with the most recent space weather findings, visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center to see probably the most recent solar X-ray data from the agency’s GOES weather satellites that perch over the eastern and western U.S.