Latest news with #sunspot4114
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
US hit by blackouts as sun releases colossal burst of radiation... and experts warn more is to come
A powerful solar flare erupted from the sun on Tuesday, prompting warnings from NASA about potential blackouts and communication disruptions. The solar flare, classified as an X1.2 flare, one of the most severe types, exploded from the sun's Earth-facing side at around 6pm ET. 'X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about their strength,' NASA shared in a release. The eruption unleashed a burst of ionizing radiation, magnetic energy and heat capable of interfering with technology on Earth. Dr Tamitha Skov, an independent space weather physicist, said the flare's impact was strongest in the western hemisphere, affecting areas including the US West Coast, Alaska, eastern Russia, the Asia-Pacific region and potentially New Zealand. Almost immediately, the flare triggered a shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean, with ham radio operators in Hawaii reporting sudden signal loss. NASA and other space weather agencies are now closely monitoring sunspot region 4114, the source of the flare. Sunspots are cooler than other parts of the surface. Sunsport 4114 is expected to remain active in the coming days, and scientists warn that another major flare could erupt as soon as today. 'Another flare may be in the offing today. Sunspot 4114 is large and unstable, with a 'delta-class' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong explosions,' the team at shared. A delta-class magnetic field is like a pressure cooker of magnetic energy on the sun, and it is often a warning sign that a big solar flare is to come. Officials said in a Wednesday update that the solar flare likely came with a huge burst of charged solar particles, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), which will take about 15 to 72 hours to reach Earth. A G1 geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for Friday, which is the least powerful on the scale of five. However, it has the potential to cause minor fluctuations in power grids, slight impacts on satellite operations and make the aurora borealis visible at high latitudes. In May, experts revealed they conducted an extreme space weather scenario and found Earth may not survive. They conducted a 'solar storm emergency drill', simulating what would happen if a major geomagnetic storm hit our planet. Results showed power grids failed, blackouts were triggered and communication broke down across the US. Dr Tamitha Skov, an independent space weather physicist, said the flare's impact was strongest in the western hemisphere, affecting areas including the US West Coast, Alaska, eastern Russia, the Asia-Pacific region and potentially New Zealand The exercise ran four simulations of geomagnetic storms of different severities. One scenario included a 'solar superstorm', strong enough to cause an 'internet apocalypse,' resulting in power grid disruptions across the entire US, with the eastern seaboard experiencing blackouts, which lasted for weeks. Not only were power grids impacted, but railways and pipelines were also knocked offline, causing mass disruptions of travel and dramatic price increases of gas. Scientists are now calling for a whole-of-government planning approach, arguing it will be critical for protecting America from cosmic disaster. That would include deploying more satellites to monitor space weather, enhancing real-time data collection to improve forecasting models and providing earlier warnings.
Gizmodo
10 hours ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
This ‘Large and Unstable' Sunspot Just Slammed Earth With Its Strongest Flare Yet
Scientists predict another solar eruption may take place today. An Earth-facing sunspot region has been raging with massive eruptions of hot gas that have caused disruptions to our communications systems—and there's still more to come. On Tuesday at 5:49 p.m. ET, sunspot region 4114 released an X.12 class solar flare that caused a radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. This was the strongest flare released by this specific sunspot thus far. That said, this magnetically active region resulted in multiple eruptions over the past few days and is predicted to fling another one our way today. A sunspot is a dark, cooler area that appears like a smudged dot on the Sun. It forms when strong magnetic activity slows down the flow of hot gas from the star's interior to its surface. A byproduct of the Sun's complex magnetic field, sunspots occur more often during the solar maximum. The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle, marked by an ebb and flow of solar activity. During solar maximum, which officially kicked off in October 2024, the Sun erupts with more flares, coronal mass ejections, and magnetic storms. When all that activity is on the side of the Sun that's facing Earth, it's bad news for us. Sunspot region 4114 is a feisty one. Earlier this week, the sunspot released multiple M-class solar flares in less than 24 hours, according to 'Sunspot 4114 is large and unstable, with a 'delta-class' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong explosions,' the solar tracking website wrote. The strongest flare erupted on June 15 as an M8.46 class, causing a shortwave radio blackout over North America with loss of signal at frequencies below 20 Megahertz. Solar flares are categorized by their strength, starting at B-class, which are the weakest, all the way up to the strongest, the X-class. An M-class solar flare comes right before the X-class. The solar flare responsible for the geomagnetic storm that took place between May 10 to 12,2024 was classified as X1.1, just a tiny bit stronger than the latest flare produced by sunspot region 4114. The sunspot's previous flares also unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME), eruptions of solar material ejected from the Sun that can cause geomagnetic disturbances on Earth. Tuesday's flare, however, was not accompanied by a CME. Instead, it was an intense flash of electromagnetic energy that caused ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in the radio blackout. The active sunspot region, which is still facing Earth, is predicted to release another solar flare on Wednesday, according to As the Sun rotates on its axis, the sunspot will become hidden from our view and Earth will be in the clear. There is a chance, however, that the sunspot remains active until it reappears in view again, unleashing more solar rage our way.
