The Sun’s activity is increasing and is anticipated to increase considerably more as the solar maximum approaches in the coming years. This year has already produced a huge number of geomagnetic storms, solar storms, CMEs, and solar flares. Surprisingly, according to astronomers, the Sun has already produced more sunspots than was anticipated at the solar maximum. The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) of NASA is equipped with a full complement of sensors to monitor the Sun’s erratic behaviour.
An Earth-facing sunspot just burst, sending these flares on their way, and this NASA observatory has recently indicated that Earth may be in the firing line of a powerful M2 solar flare.
Dangerous sunspot
A massive eruption of the Earth-facing Sunspot AR3425 was reportedly seen by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in the late hours of September 7, according to a report by spaceweather.com. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) specialists have consequently seen a number of overlapping CMEs and are attempting to ascertain whether any of them were caused by this sunspot eruption.
M2 solar flares have been shown to be directed at Earth as a result. For the uninitiated, solar flares are rated on a logarithmic scale based on their intensity, much as how earthquakes are gauged. The smallest ones are A-class, which are found at low background levels. B, C, M, and X are next.
The solar flare that was launched at Earth was of M2 strength, which means that it was twice as powerful as M1 flares. Aside from this, two further sunspots known as AR3421 and AR3422 also present a threat to Earth since they have the potential to fire M-class solar flares in its direction, according to the paper.
Tech aboard NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
Three extremely important instruments are used by the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to gather information on diverse solar activity. They include the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE), which measures the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet irradiance, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), which takes high-resolution measurements of the longitudinal and vector magnetic field over the entire visible solar disc, and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which offers continuous full-disk observations of the solar chromosphere and corona in seven extreme ultraviolet (EUV) channels.
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