Re: 'Enormous' sunspot, solar flares are now visible from Earth. Here's what that means

On 29 Mar 2022, pothead <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> Oh no!  We'll all die and the planet will eat us!

If you look closely — with solar eclipse glasses — you may find some dark 
spots on the sun. Despite their frequent occurrences, this particular 
cluster of sunspots is drawing concerns about solar flares.

While the sunspots were first visible from Mars, the sun has rotated to 
now be seen from Earth. Now called AR3576, the cluster of sunspots 
stretches for more than 124,274 miles, Chron reports.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported an unusually 
strong solar flare at 12:53 a.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 16. The phenomenon 
was discovered by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which monitors the 
sun continuously.


The solar flare was categorized by NASA as a X2.5 flare. X-class refers to 
the most intense flares, and the number signals its level of strength.

Also read: Austin will be cast in complete darkness by total solar eclipse 
in April. What we know.

NASA first identified the "enormous sunspot" a week prior, on Feb. 9. 
Occurring at 7:14 a.m. CST, experts reported it to be the strongest solar 
flare since 2017 and was classified as a X3.3 flare.

Although both solar flares measured smaller than the X5 flare recorded on 
New Year's Eve, experts wonder about the accuracy of the measurements. Dr. 
Ryan Finch is a solar physicist and science communicator at the National 
Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado. He took to X, formerly known as 
Twitter, to explain.


What are sunspots and solar flares?
Sunspots are relatively cooler areas on the sun's surface caused by deep 
concentrations of magnetic flux. They are typically followed by solar 
flares, or "powerful bursts of energy," NASA's website explains.

Although the sun is nearly 100 million miles from Earth, flares and solar 
eruptions can affect radio communications, electric power grids and 
navigation signals. They also pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

More on power grids: Should Texas be forced to join nation's power grids? 
Casar, AOC file bill to do just that.

What is Solar Cycle 25?
According to NASA, the sun's magnetic field flips top-to-bottom 
approximately every 11 years. The sun's north pole becomes its south pole 
and vice versa.

These cycles influence activity on the sun's surface, such as the 
prominence of sun spots. Very few sunspots are present at the start of a 
solar cycle, called the solar minimum. As the cycle continues into its 
latest stage, the solar maximum, more sunspots appear than at any other 
point in the cycle.

Recording of solar cycles began in 1755, and we are currently in the 25th 
cycle since, the National Weather Service reports. Solar Cycle 25 began in 
2019 and is expected to end around 2030.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/02/19/sunspot-ar3576-nasa-
solar-flare-2024-sun-earth-mars/72657566007/