NASA's Most Recent Massive Solar Flare Update
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- A massive 2012 solar flare is headed for the earth today due to a solar storm on March 6, 2012. The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle
on March 6, 2012 at 7PM ET. This flare was categorized as an X5.4,
making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 --
since the sun’s activity segued into a period of relatively low
activity called solar minimum in early 2007. The current increase in the
number of X-class flares is part of the sun’s normal 11-year solar
cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which
is expected to peak in late 2013.
About an hour later, at 8:14 PM ET, March 6, the same region let loose
an X1.3 class flare. An X1 is 5 times smaller than an X5 flare.
These X-class flares erupted from an active region named AR 1429 that
rotated into view on March 2. Prior to this, the region had already
produced numerous M-class and one X-class flare. The region continues
to rotate across the front of the sun, so the March 6 flare was more
Earthward facing than the previous ones. It triggered a temporary radio
blackout on the sunlit side of Earth that interfered with radio
navigation and short wave radio.
In association with these flares, the sun also expelled two significant
coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are travelling faster than 600
miles a second and may arrive at Earth in the next few days. In the
meantime, the CME associated with the X-class flare from March 4 has
dumped solar particles and magnetic fields into Earth’s atmosphere and
distorted Earth's magnetic fields, causing a moderate geomagnetic storm,
rated a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5. Such storms happen when the
magnetic fields around Earth rapidly change strength and shape. A
moderate storm usually causes aurora and may interfere with high
frequency radio transmission near the poles. This storm is already
dwindling, but the Earth may experience another enhancement if the most
recent CMEs are directed toward and impact Earth.
In addition, last night’s flares have sent solar particles into Earth’s
atmosphere, producing a moderate solar energetic particle event, also
called a solar radiation storm. These particles have been detected by
NASA’s SOHO and STEREO spacecraft, and NOAA’s GOES spacecraft. At the
time of writing, this storm is rated an S3 on a scale that goes up to
S5. Such storms can interfere with high frequency radio communication.
Besides the August 2011 X-class flare, the last time the sun sent out
flares of this magnitude was in 2006. There was an X6.5 on December 6,
2006 and an X9.0 on December 5, 2006. Like the most recent events,
those two flares erupted from the same region on the sun, which is a
common occurrence.
