Solar Activity Increasing-Largest Solar Flare in 4 years

This morning sunspot 1158 unleashed the strongest Solar Flare in over 4 years. The sun had been amazingly quiet over the past several years. The current solar cycle bottomed out and it looks like this un is about to start becoming active again. This mornings flare was pretty amazing. Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

Here’s is what was posted this morning on Spaceweather.com. The eruption, which peaked at 0156 UT on Feb. 15th, registered X2 on the Richter scale of solar flares. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded an intense flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation, circled below:

X-flares are the strongest type of solar flare, and this is the first such eruption of new Solar Cycle 24. In addition to flashing Earth with UV radiation, the explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) in our direction. The expanding cloud may be seen in this movie from NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft. Geomagnetic storms are possible when the CME arrives 36 to 48 hours hence. Stay tuned for updates.

This stuff while fascinating is also kind of disruptive. Since the sun has been so inactive over the past 4 years or so. We forget what these geomagnetic storms can do. They disrupt radio, satellite, power grids and all sorts of electronic devices. Which now are much more prevalent and relied upon even than they were just 4 years ago. Think of what impact this flare and larger flares could have on cellular networks, GPS and communication satellites. Time will tell what will happen but one awesome side effect are these amazing Aurora Borealis at higher latitudes and even some times at mid and low latitudes.