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A powerful solar flare was observed by a NASA satellite Thursday evening. Never has such a powerful eruption been recorded since 2017. The phenomenon could be the cause of the Northern Lights this weekend.
The Sun triggered a solar flare on Thursday, October 3 at 2:18 p.m. The phenomenon was the most powerful ever observed since 2017. The images are exceptional: they were captured by a NASA satellite which has been continuously scanning the Sun for 14 years, the Solar Dynamics Observatory. You should know that certain violent solar flares can have major effects on electrical and communications networks.
Here’s another view of today’s X9-class solar flare, the most powerful of this solar cycle, featuring two different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light captured by NASA’ Solar Dynamics Observatory. ud83euddd0 pic.twitter.com/pgruMrNdjC
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun)
Solar activity follows a cycle of approximately 11 years. In periods of high intensity like now, it could reach its peak next year. To understand the scale of Thursday’s solar flare, you need to know that scientists combine the letter X and a number. Thursday’s solar flare is category X9. A previous solar flare took place two days earlier, on Tuesday October 1st. But the most intense recorded to date is class X28 and dates back to April 2003.
MOST POWERFUL FLARE IN SOLAR CYCLE 25.
It was X9.0 in GOES X-ray measurement. It was quite eruptive, leaving a coronal wave. The eruption/CME seemed to result from magnetic reconnection rather than ideally from a pre-existing flux rope. It may come in less than 3 days. pic.twitter.com/1EedHVlmmg
— Halo CME (@halocme)
A solar flare is accompanied by a coronal mass ejection or CME. It is this coronal mass which is at the origin of the appearance of the northern lights in the sky when it reaches our magnetic field. Astrophysicist Eric Lagadec, from the Côte d’Azur observatory, confirms this: “Matter is on its way to Earth.”
Well, we just experienced the biggest solar flare in years. Matter is on its way to Earth. Maybe the Northern Lights in 2-3 days!! https://t.co/1FRUYP4yVd
— Eric Lagadecu2728ud83cudf0d (@EricLagadec)
Will we be able to observe the Northern Lights in France over the next few nights? Not so sure. They should be able to light up the sky between the North Pole and northern Britain only because the geomagnetic storm caused by the solar flare is level 3 on a scale of 5, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. But who knows… We are not safe from a pleasant surprise!
Also read:
Solar storms, northern lights… how the Sun’s record activity in 2024 could have consequences on Earth
As explained Futura Sciencesthe current period is favorable for solar storms. During the autumnal equinox and spring equinox, Earth’s magnetic field is oriented to naturally connect with the Sun and more easily allow the solar wind to collapse into the atmosphere.
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