An unstable sunspot erupted on Tuesday, sending out a solar flare and a hot plume of plasma that blazed through the Sun’s atmosphere at speeds faster than 400 kilometres per second. The extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare caused a shortwave radio blackout over Australia.
The explosion also released a coronal mass ejection or CME, according to SpaceWeather.com. CME refers to the highly magnetised plasma that is released from the Sun. If a CME hits our planet, it can cause “geomagnetic storms.” These storms help produce beautiful auroras but they can also disrupt satellite communication.
Spectacular Long-duration M4 Flare Still in progress. It started at 01:30 UT and peaked at 03:15. At 03:50 UT it is still at M2 level. It definitely launched a CME that may affect Earth with a geomagnetic storm, but the region isa long way south on the Sun so could pass under us. pic.twitter.com/jBOcyI8bKp
— Keith Strong (@drkstrong) February 6, 2024
The CME that left the Sun on Tuesday might scrape Earth’s magnetic field on Friday, February 9. If that does not happen, it will be the third CME that narrowly missed Earth this month.
The solar flare on Tuesday was classified as an M-class, the second most powerful class. M-class flares are generally medium seized and can cause brief radio blackouts, especially near the polar regions. Solar physicist Keith Strong posted a video of the flare on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Spectacular Long-duration M4 Flare Still in progress. It started at 01:30 UT and peaked at 03:15. At 03:50 UT it is still at M2 level. It definitely launched a CME that may affect Earth with a geomagnetic storm, but the region is a long way south on the Sun so could pass under us,” said Strong in the post.
Interestingly, a separate “full halo” CME was also recorded happening on the far side of the Sun by coronagraphs. A full halo means that the CME completely surrounds the Sun. Typically, half of all halo CMEs head directly towards Earth, meaning that they will create a geomagnetic storm. The other half usually heads directly away from Earth. This halo CME is heading in the direction away from Earth and might even hit NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on its way.
