In the final hours of Christmas, the sun fired four solar flares in less than three hours.
The largest flare in the series was recorded as M7.3, which erupted from sunspot region AR3938 at 10:15 pm on December 25. ET (0315 GMT on December 26). solar flare They are divided into 4 levels according to their strength, M level is the second, and the ferocious X level is the highest.
according to Space Weather Networkwhich was part of four different flares that occurred over two and a half hours, coinciding with three sunspot regions (AR3938, AR3933, and AR3936). In footage of the sun captured during this time, it looks like twinkling lights on a Christmas tree.
This equally active program sun As seen in images taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) onboard its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-16).
These types of synchronized explosions are called sympathetic solar flareand is a very rare phenomenon. When these explosions occur from different sunspot regions at nearly the same time, they are actually intertwined and do not explode on their own. when sunspot They are far apart from each other but are still connected by a magnetic ring invisible to the naked eye.
As always, the big question when a solar flare occurs is whether we’ll have any impact on the solar explosion here on Earth (for space enthusiasts, this will be another chance to see an aurora).
according to Thursday morning discussion From the forecaster NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)at this time the coronal mass ejection (CME) caused by the M7.3 flare is expected to miss our planet to the north. Coronal mass ejections are bubbles of pressurized plasma that are flung into space after powerful solar flares.
Scientists still believe the sun in these active regions will remain active until the end of the year. All it takes is a powerful flare to send CME our way, and it could lead to a belated Christmas gift aurora Before the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve.