From SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE (UPDATED) : A big and very active sunspot complex emerged over the sun's northeastern limb yesterday. It has already produced an X1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast on April 17th at 03:34 UT:
A pulse of X-rays from the flare produced a strong shortwave radio blackout over southeast Asia and Australia: map. Mariners, aviators, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz.
Update: New images from SOHO confirm that the explosion hurled a CME into space: movie. The bulk of the CME will miss Earth, passing behind our planet in its orbit around the sun. However, there might be an Earth-directed component. NOAA analysts are looking into this now.
Meanwhile, get ready for more flares. This sunspot group has been active for more than a week, hurling CMEs and plumes of plasma into space from its location on the farside of the sun. Now it is turning to face Earth and shows no signs of slowing down. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE (UPDATED) : A big and very active sunspot complex emerged over the sun's northeastern limb yesterday. It has already produced an X1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast on April 17th at 03:34 UT:
A pulse of X-rays from the flare produced a strong shortwave radio blackout over southeast Asia and Australia: map. Mariners, aviators, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz.
Update: New images from SOHO confirm that the explosion hurled a CME into space: movie. The bulk of the CME will miss Earth, passing behind our planet in its orbit around the sun. However, there might be an Earth-directed component. NOAA analysts are looking into this now.
Meanwhile, get ready for more flares. This sunspot group has been active for more than a week, hurling CMEs and plumes of plasma into space from its location on the farside of the sun. Now it is turning to face Earth and shows no signs of slowing down. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text