The Earth's star unleashed a long-duration solar flare early Tuesday, firing high-energy radiation into space for roughly three hours.
According to a Space.com report, the sun flexed its massive magnetic muscles yesterday, and two solar spacecraft were able to capture the occurrence on video.
The Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO of NASA, which has been examining the sun from Earth's orbit since 2010, observed the dramatic occurrence in numerous wavelengths.
The said flare registered as an M3.4, putting it in the solar outburst's "medium" class. It was strong enough to cause momentary radio blackouts in the Asia-Pacific region here on Earth.
Scientists have classified powerful solar flares into three categories: C, M, and X, with C being the weakest and X the strongest.
ALSO READ: Solar Storm Heading Towards Earth Likely to Hit Soon; How Does It Affect Someone's Health?
Solar Flare on Video via SDO and SOHO
The flare yesterday morning was linked to a coronal mass ejection or CME, a large cloud of superheated plasma rocketing away from the sun at remarkable speeds.
Both SDO and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO, a NASA-European Space Agency probe that took off in 1995, snapped imagery of the CME yesterday, exhibiting the huge size and impressive speed of the plasma cloud.
The views of the two spacecraft were complementary, given their different orbits; SOHO rings the sun at the Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally stable spot in space roughly 930,000 miles or 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the direction of the stars.
Large CMEs that strike the Earth can stimulate powerful geomagnetic storms, which can have impacts, both adverse, like potential satellite damage for one, and positive such as supercharged auroral displays, among others.
It doesn't appear, though, that yesterday's CME was aligned with this planet, experts explained. In addition, the sun has been releasing a number of flares recently. That's not surprising anymore, given that the star's 11-year-activity cycle is anticipated to peak in 2025 or beyond.
SOHO
Over 20 years in space, SOHO has made numerous discoveries, adding to scientists' understanding of the Earth's closest star.
Soho has unveiled the first images of the Sun's convection zone, its interior's turbulent upper layer, and the structure of sunspots beneath the surface.
It has offered detailed measurements of the interior and the slow and fast solar wind, occurrence identifying source regions, and acceleration mechanisms.
Furthermore, the mission has discovered more than 3,000 new comets, as well as new dynamic solar phenomena like solar tornadoes and coronal waves.
The mission has also discovered over 3,000 new comets and new dynamic solar phenomena such as coronal waves and solar tornadoes.
Coronal Mass Ejections
As indicated in a report from NASA, the corona, also known as the outer solar atmosphere, is structured by strong magnetic fields. In the sites where such fields are closed, frequently on top of sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently discharge bubbles of gas and magnetic fields known as "coronal mass ejections" or CMEs.
A massive CME can have a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to many million miles an hour in a breathtaking explosion.
Meanwhile, solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, affecting any planet or spacecraft in its path. Coronal mass ejections are often linked to flares that can take place independently.
A report about the recent M Class solar flare is shown on Daily Events Worldwide's YouTube video below:
RELATED ARTICLE: Solar Storms Mystery Finally Solved: Simulation Model to Predict Space Weather, Geomagnetic Storms Developed
Check out more news and information on Sun in Science Times.