A solar flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME) both erupted from the Sun on the summer solstice — June 20, 2013, right around 11:24 pm. The CME was Earth-directed, but not of particular strength — a mild geomagnetic storm is expected. According to current NASA estimates, the CME left the Sun at speeds of
Another powerful X-class solar flare just erupted from the Sun — the third within only 24 hours. the solar flare registered as a X3.2, making it the most powerful solar flare of the year. This third flare peaked in intensity at about 9:11 pm EDT on May 13, 2013. The previous two flares, an X1.7
The two strongest solar flares of the year just erupted from the Sun — an X1.7 and an X2.8 — the first X-class solar flares of the year. A coronal mass ejection (CME) also erupted from the Sun at the same time, though it is not Earth-directed. The CME was traveling at about 1,200 miles
Solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and other solar activity, will likely pick back up sometime later this year, before 2013 is over, according to researchers at NASA. The sun has been somewhat quiet lately, even though 2013 is expected to be the year of peak solar activity for Solar Cycle 24. The reason for
A sun-grazing comet and a solar eruption have been caught on film together by NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft. The video shows comet Pan-STARRS and a massive coronal mass ejection (CME), caused by a recent solar flare, together in a striking new video. Comet Pan-STARRS is visible in the film as it’s moving through the inner
A very large solar eruption just occurred on January 13, 2013, in the early morning hours. The Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, or CME, is very likely to trigger a strong Northern Lights display this week, researchers from NASA say. But not powerful enough to cause problems for satellites or other electronics. A CME, which is
[UPDATE: March 10, 2012; see below] Late yesterday morning, two massive X-class solare flares erupted form our sun’s surface. These are amongst the most powerful class of ‘solar storm’. One of these flares ranked an X 5.4 which makes it the most powerful flare so far this year, and one of the most powerful in
I don’t watch a heap of news, so I was surprised to hear that people are expecting 2012 to end thanks to a massive solar flare as a result of the oncoming solar maximum. Thankfully, even as I heard about it, I was reliably informed by scientists from NASA that such an event is a ‘physical impossibility’.
[updated content; Solar Flare, see below] At three times the diameter of the Earth — 25, 000 miles/40,000 km wide and 50,000miles / 80,000 km long — the newest sunspot to make its appearance on our sun’s surface is the largest seen in years, according to NASA experts. The sunspot is part of Active Region
Many of us will never see an aurora with our own eyes, so we resort to videos and images on the internet. One of the most amazing I’ve ever seen is this series of still images collated into a timelapse video taken from the International Space Station on September 17.
Surf’s up big time on the Sun, or just above the sun, in this case. Seems like NASA’s high resolution Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has caught conclusive evidence of classic “surfer waves” in the solar atmosphere — looking just like the kind in the opening sequence of ‘Hawaii Five-O’.
This Spring has been pretty exciting for solar activity…Following the ending of the longest ‘solar minimum’ in more than a century, our sun’s activity (solar cycle 24) picked up considerably over the course of the month of May, culminating in an impressive M-2 class (medium size) solar flare and “spectacular” coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7.
