When the sun released a pair of strong solar flares just two days apart last week. This event was a landmark in the present solar cycle. What happened On May 13th a large X1.2 flare erupted. The day after, an even stronger X2.7 flare erupted. Solar flares are most likely to happen during the sun’s period of greatest activity, known as solar maximum. This phase usually leads to an increase in solar storms.
The X-class designation represents the power of these solar flares, with X1 representing a maximum intensity. Those incredible flares were instigators of amazing destruction. Their impact led to near-complete radio blackouts across the vast swaths of blackouts over Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. While these ancient flares were blasting out radiation that would have been devastating, this radiation did not reach Earth, protecting early terrestrial life from direct harm.
Understandings of Solar Flares
The Sun is at its maximum phase of the 11-year solar cycle. The recent boom in solar activity is a direct corollary of that phase. Over the next few years, scientists at NASA expect an increase in solar storms and higher levels of solar activity. So far, the sun’s magnetic poles have flipped, marking the transition into an active, stormy state.
As the radio waves produced by these flares refracted off of the Earth’s ionosphere, communication disruptions occurred across areas impacted by the solar flares. According to NOAA, “Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” highlighting the rarity and significance of such events.
Implications for the Coming Week
On the ground, observers are looking forward with cautious optimism. In fact, there’s a 35% chance that they’ll be able to witness minor to moderate solar flare events from May 19 on. The chances of one more intense flare are very low. These experts tune into these conditions religiously as they develop contingency plans for what the upcoming storm could do to our communications and technology infrastructure.
Shawn Dahl provided insights into the anticipated conditions, stating, “The risk for (high frequency) radio degradation through the rest of the week is low.” We hope that these facts can offer a little bit of comfort to anyone alarmed by recent solar activity.
Monitoring Solar Activity
We encourage you to follow along with the scientific community as we all study and monitor the sun’s activity as it continues its path through this solar cycle. Learning more about solar flares and how they could impact people will be key to reducing the dangers posed by communication breakdowns and disturbances.
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