Tag: The Sun

The historic sunspot region that sparked the record-breaking auroras of May 2024 has returned in explosive fashion, firing off a colossal M9.3 class solar flare on June 23.  But this isn’t the first time we have encountered this hyperactive sunspot. AR3723 is the returning version of sunspot AR3697 and before that AR3664 — which was responsible for the colossal G5 geomagnetic storm that triggered epic auroras around the world.  The sun‘s rotation period averages 27 days, which means Earth can view a given active region for around two weeks before…

The terms ‘northern lights’, ‘space weather‘ and ‘geomagnetic storm’ were googled more in May 2024 than in any other month in the search engine’s history.  With April’s total solar eclipse, and Mid-May’s widespread aurora show, public interest in the sun has been much higher than usual. As photos and discussions of the eclipse and northern lights flooded social media and secured segments on prime-time news broadcasts, Google search inquiries for these topics shot up significantly.  Using the Google Trends feature, we can utilize Google search statistics to track how public…

The sun erupted in a dazzling spectacle on Monday (June 3), firing off an intense solar flare captured in stunning detail by a NASA solar observatory. But when you look closely at the eruption, it appears that much of the solar material in the vast plasma plume didn’t manage to escape the grasp of the sun. In the video, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory during an M-class solar flare,  you can see a huge plasma plume rise from the sun’s surface, only to be reeled back in during an…

The colossal sunspot group AR3664 responsible for the epic May 2024 solar storms and widespread auroras is back — well, almost. Yesterday (May 27), a powerful X-class solar flare erupted from the sun‘s southeastern limb, peaking around 3:08 a.m. EDT (0708 GMT).  Solar flares are energetic eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the sun’s surface that occur when magnetic energy accumulating in the solar atmosphere is released. They are categorized by size into lettered groups, with X-class being the most powerful. Within each class, numbers from 1-10 (and beyond for X-class…

Talk about a dramatic exit! The sunspot AR3664, which is about 15 times wider than Earth, has finally rotated out of our planet’s view — but not before firing off two more big solar storms. The most recent solar flares from AR3664 were in the X class, the strongest category — an X3.4 monster that peaked today (May 15) at 4:37 a.m. EDT (0837 UTC) and an X2.9 that followed at 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT).  Related: Watch monster flare-spewing sunspot grow to be 15 times wider than Earth (video)…

For those who had the opportunity to see the aurora this weekend, it was quite a spectacular moment.  But while seeing the aurora borealis is thrilling and exciting for us, the same coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and geomagnetic storms that make these light shows possible can also wreak havoc on some of the technology that’s part of our daily lives. There was a lot of buzz last weekend about other possible impacts when the historic geomagnetic storms reached the extreme G5 category. Companies that operate satellites like SpaceX reported on…

Just when we thought we’d seen the most powerful flares from a colossal sunspot, the sun unleashed its strongest eruption of the weekend yet, triggering a radio blackout even as the star continues to crackle with solar storms.  According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the dynamic solar flare occurred late Saturday (May 10) from an active sunspot region called AR3664. It peaked at 9:23 p.m. EDT (0123 May 11 GMT), registering as a massive X5.8 class flare, SWPC officials said. As a result, parts of some of the…

If there were a Page Six for what’s going on in space, the sunspot region AR3664 would definitely be one of the biggest “stars” highlighted. Over the past few days, the region has grown to be roughly 124,300 miles (200,000 kilometers) wide — more than 15 times the diameter of Earth. You can see this dramatic evolution in a new time-lapse video, which consists of imagery gathered by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. And AR3664 is active as well as enormous: It keeps firing off powerful solar flares and coronal mass…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has bumped up this weekend’s geomagnetic storm watch to a level G4, the second highest on the scale. The change comes as solar activity continues at high levels and at least four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) propel toward Earth. According to the NOAA’s SWPC, to have a watch at this level is rare, but it is indeed issued when there’s a high likelihood that several CMEs will reach Earth and create “highly elevated” geomagnetic activity. As we’ve reported lately,…