Due to a powerful solar flare, communications on earth have deteriorated. Solar flares in real time The most powerful flare
A huge flare occurred on the Sun on September 6. This is the largest such phenomenon on the star in the last 12 years. The flare occurred as a result of the merger of two largest groups of sunspots, reported the Laboratory of X-ray Solar Astronomy of the P.N. Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lebedeva.
“Events of such power are among the largest that our star is capable of producing and which are formed only under very rare, unique conditions, as a rule, at the stage of peak solar activity. How it happened that an outbreak of such a level occurred now, against the backdrop of a solar minimum, remains to be understood by scientists,” astronomers report.
Solar flares, depending on the power of X-ray radiation, are divided into five classes: A, B, C, M and X. The minimum class A0.0 corresponds to a radiation power in Earth's orbit of 10 nanowatts per square meter. When moving to the next letter, the power increases 10 times.
Today's flare is classified as the latter class, X, and was assigned a score of X9.3, making it one of the five most powerful solar surface explosions on record.
According to scientists, it occurred at a point that faces the Earth, so its impact on our planet will be maximum. While the consequences for life on Earth, astronauts and satellites in orbit cannot be predicted, we “will only know about this in a few days.”
As the laboratory specialists said, the current level of solar activity has gone beyond the ten-point scale, reaching 10.3, and is now in the so-called “black” region.
Previously, scientists from the Institute named after P.N. Lebedev were able to penetrate the mystery of the release of energy in solar microflares - one of the most unusual manifestations of solar activity, still beyond the capabilities of modern telescopes.
These results will help improve the accuracy of forecasting solar activity and, as a consequence, space weather: magnetic storms and other terrestrial phenomena of cosmic origin. The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation and published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Scientists have long been interested in the paradox associated with the fact that heating the outer solar atmosphere - the corona - to the observed gigantic temperatures of 1-2 million degrees requires approximately 10 times more energy than is released during all solar flares combined.
Data from the Russian space observatory CORONAS-Photon, which operated in orbit in 2009, helped experts solve the mystery. In images taken in 2009, against a background of very low solar activity, Russian scientists were able to “see” about five hundred microflares, some of which turned out to be 1000 times weaker than the previously available lower limit of observations.
In almost all of these events, contrary to expectations, scientists were able to detect the appearance of hot plasma in the corona with a temperature of 3-4 million degrees and higher.
The data obtained turned out to be so much that it was possible to construct the temperature distribution in microflares and predict where it reaches “zero,” that is, when the flares actually stop heating the corona plasma. It turned out that this boundary lies in the region of events 10 thousand times weaker than the current observation threshold. Such weak phenomena no longer even refer to micro-flares, but to nanoflares - semi-hypothetical events on the Sun, which so far exist largely only on paper.
On August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse passed across the United States for the first time in a century. It has been called the "Great American Eclipse" because it is the first solar eclipse since the founding of America (1776) whose total phase can be observed exclusively in the United States.
The duration of the solar eclipse itself at a single point was no more than three minutes, so many fans spent thousands of dollars to chase the lunar shadow on passenger planes specially chartered for this purpose.
This event allowed those on board not only to avoid cloudy weather that interfered with observations, but also to increase its duration by up to seven minutes - that is, almost three times. According to Kelly Beaty, editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, viewing the eclipse from aboard the airliner does not compare to the experience on the ground.
“The sky there is much more transparent and therefore darker. This makes the crown look more vibrant and exciting. It really looks like an electrical phenomenon,” she said.
The eclipse affected the behavior of animals. As darkness fell at the Nashville Zoo, giraffes and rhinoceroses began scurrying around their enclosures. Zoo workers said they had never seen such agility in animals. Pink flamingos gathered in a flock and stood there until the sun came out again.
Scientists write that in this unique flare, the energy accumulated on the star as a result of the interaction of the two largest groups of sunspots in several years splashed out. She was assigned a score of X9.3. According to the existing classification, a score consists of a Latin letter (A, B, C, M or X) and the number following it. In this case, A denotes the smallest value of the flare X-ray intensity peak, and X denotes the largest. Over the past 20 years of observations of the Sun, only five flares of greater intensity have been recorded on it, the last of which occurred on September 7, 2005.
“Events of such power are among the largest that our star is capable of producing and which are formed only under very rare, unique conditions, usually at the stage of peak solar activity,” the report says.
Experts still have to understand how such a powerful flare could occur against the backdrop of minimum solar activity, and also what will happen to the Earth and outer space next to it in the coming days, since the explosion occurred in the geoeffective region near the Sun-Earth line, that is, it will have the maximum impact on the radiation, geomagnetic and electromagnetic conditions in near-Earth space.
Today’s solar flare in a few days could disrupt radio communications on Earth and cause aurora in the latitudes of Moscow, Sergei Bogachev, chief researcher at the Laboratory of X-ray Solar Astronomy of the Lebedev Physical Institute, told Cherdak.
“Not every solar flare affects the Earth, but in this case it is clear that the flare occurred quite close to the center of the solar disk, so at first glance there will be consequences. The outbreak is very large, it occurred almost in the center, it cannot be without consequences,” Bogachev said.
The scientist noted that so far information about the event is very limited - by Thursday morning, scientists will begin to receive more detailed data from coronagraphs, and “it will be possible to literally describe by the hour what will happen when.”
The consequences of a record outbreak will be extended over time. The level of X-ray radiation in Earth's orbit is already elevated. And in a few hours, the atmosphere of our planet will begin to absorb heavy particles, which, unlike radiation, move from the Sun at a speed less than the speed of light.
“They will “partially” fall out in the area of the poles - these are the aurora, which, since the flare is large, can reach the middle latitudes, and it is possible even as far as Moscow,” Bogachev said.
And in a couple of days, clouds of plasma ejected by the Sun will reach the Earth, and a magnetic storm will begin, during which radio communication will be disrupted.
Bogachev does not rule out that the record outbreak may be followed by new outbreaks, including stronger ones. The active region on the Sun that produced today's flare is still “alive” and its energy reserve has not yet been exhausted.
“At the end of October 2003 there was the largest flare in the entire history of observations, and it seemed that everything, the Sun had exhausted its energy. However, just a few days later, the same area produced an even larger outbreak. That is, in general, this situation, when a large outbreak is followed by an even larger one, may repeat itself,” the scientist said.
The Lebedev Physical Institute notes that the level of flare activity currently exceeds 10 (the exact score is 10.3). This value is already outside the usual color scale, which has five values (from green to yellow, orange, red and maximum, violet, levels of solar activity) and corresponds to the so-called black, the highest level of activity.
The flare was observed only by foreign space observatories, since the launch of the only Russian solar project - an observatory with the working name ARKA - is scheduled for 2024.
ever produced in the history of observations from the Earth,” astrophysicist Sergei Bogachev told the VZGLYAD newspaper, commenting on a series of powerful flares that have occurred on the Sun in recent days. He told what consequences can be expected from these outbreaks on Earth.
On Friday, a new powerful flare was recorded on the Sun, its maximum occurred at 11.00 Moscow time, as follows from the solar activity graph of the X-ray Solar Astronomy laboratory of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN). A powerful magnetic storm arose on Earth, which is estimated at four units on a five-point scale.
The FIAN representative admitted that the strength of the magnetic storm turned out to be ten times greater than predicted. Its consequences are difficult to predict. In particular, strong auroras began in the Northern Hemisphere at uncharacteristic latitudes. In addition, it was reported that during the flare, seismic waves—a “sunquake”—propagated across the solar surface.
According to scientists, the direction of the magnetic field of the ejection is unfavorable for our planet - the field is directed opposite to the Earth’s and is currently “burning the field lines” of the Earth.
Sergei Bogachev, chief researcher at the Solar X-ray Astronomy laboratory, member of the Scientific Council of the Lebedev Physical Institute, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and astrophysicist, spoke in an interview with the newspaper VZGLYAD about whether such “burning” is dangerous for earthlings.
OPINION: Sergey Alexandrovich, how long will this magnetic storm on Earth last?
Sergey Bogachev: Firstly, it is worth noting that the outbreaks were still on Wednesday, the 6th. Accordingly, the clouds of plasma that are ejected during the flare reached us only on Friday. The “impact” was really strong, the flash was large and the speeds were high; on Friday night there was a magnetic storm of very high power - four points on a five-point scale, almost maximum. On Friday afternoon the activity had already subsided. The magnetic storm is still ongoing, the Earth's magnetic field is still disturbed, but its severity is gradually decreasing.
Solar activity is cyclical, and this cycle is well studied. In fact, it has been observed for 300 years already and for all 300 years it worked like a clock. Once every 11 years, the Sun enters a state of maximum activity. But now we are at a minimum, so the fact itself is unusual.
On the other hand, the Sun is still not a clock, not a mechanism, but a complex physical object, which we especially do not fully understand. In a sense, this fact simply confirms our helplessness.
OPINION: One of the outbreaks was classified as extremely strong - as scientists say, classX9.3. How rare is this?
S.B.: There have been events in our history that were perhaps one and a half times more powerful. But due to a combination of factors, such a large flare and the fact that it occurred at a minimum of solar activity is one of the most mysterious events that the Sun has ever produced in the history of observations from Earth.
OPINION: They say it “burns the ley lines” of the Earth. It sounds scary. But what does this really mean?
S.B.: This is a figurative expression. The fact is that the magnetic field, if visualized, is like arrows directed, say, upward. Imagine there is another field with arrows pointing down. You can call the first field a plus, and the second - a minus. With such interaction, these fields begin to annihilate each other, as it were. So it turns out that the ejection field “burns” and destroys some parts of the Earth’s magnetic field. The substance from the ejection, which is usually blocked by the Earth's field, gets the opportunity to penetrate deeper into those layers of the atmosphere into which plasma from the Sun usually does not penetrate.Accordingly, the Earth's radiation belts are saturated with plasma from the Sun. This explains the aurora that was observed in Canada at the time of the “impact” - very strong, at latitudes up to 40 degrees.
OPINION: Does this somehow affect technology?
S.B.: The aurora can be seen, and the storms can, in a sense, be felt. Flares greatly affect the upper atmosphere. In particular, the Earth has an ionosphere, this is the outer shell of the atmosphere, which contains neutral gases and quasi-neutral plasma. The ionosphere significantly influences shortwave radio communications. Essentially, short radio waves are simply reflected from the ionosphere. Accordingly, radio amateurs know that during solar flares and high solar activity, the nature of radio communication changes. It can improve as the ionosphere becomes denser, or deteriorate as the ionosphere fluctuates.
Interaction with satellites is difficult because there is now a lot of plasma in the outer space surrounding the Earth, which refracts and blocks signals.
Magnetic storms are planetary in nature. There is no place where you can go, hide. If people are weather sensitive, they just need to take the usual precautions. People who know about their tendency to such effects understand this.
VZGLYAD: Do you expect new outbreaks in the near future?
S.B.: Observations show that the solar energy has not yet been exhausted, and flares continue. At the same time, the group of sunspots, which is the center of this activity, is now moving more and more to the side due to the rotation of the Sun - relatively speaking, towards the solar horizon. I think that in a day or two it will already be completely “on the edge” of the Sun, from where influence on the Earth is generally impossible. Then he will go to the other side altogether.
If this series of flares again leads to some kind of major record, most likely it will happen on the other side of the Sun. We won't even know about him.
A solar flare is a super-powerful process of release of light, thermal and kinetic energy in all layers of the solar atmosphere. This process lasts several minutes and releases billions of megatons of energy in TNT equivalent. On Earth it can cause magnetic storms.
The most powerful flare since October 2017 was recorded on the Sun on February 7 at about 18:00. This phenomenon on a star in the solar system marked the end of a burst of activity that had been observed since February 4. During this time, the flux of radiation from the Sun increased 10 times. At the moment, the level of radio emission from the Sun is also increased.
Solar flares today 2018 magnetic storms: a magnetic storm will pass through the earth due to a solar flare
The laboratory explained that the flare occurred relatively far from the Sun-Earth line. In addition, it belongs to the so-called pulse type, which, according to theory, is not accompanied by emissions of solar plasma into interplanetary space. Such emissions are the main cause of strong magnetic storms. Therefore, this outbreak has little impact on Earth and people.
The increase in solar activity is not entirely normal. Since this happens against the background of the developing minimum of the solar cycle. It seems that the Sun is thus simply burning away the last remaining magnetic fields from the previous cycle.
Scientists also noted that flares are now observed at the equator of the Sun. At the moment, the disk of the Sun is indeed completely clear of spots, with the exception of the equator.
Solar flares today 2018 magnetic storms: how magnetic storms affect health and how to protect yourself from them
Scientists argue that such outbreaks create discomfort, destroying a person’s calm routine, and also leading to social upheaval.
Doctors say that some patients feel changes in advance. They complain of weakness, anxiety, irritability, absent-mindedness, headache and heart failure, as well as surges in blood pressure.
1. It is advisable to drink more water, eat more vegetables and fruits. Try not to eat fatty and heavy foods, as well as salty, smoked and spiced foods.
2. Refrain from drinking coffee and strong tea.
3. If possible, avoid severe stress and physical activity.
4. You need to move more and take walks in the fresh air.
Magnetic storms not only affect the condition of many people, but can even change the direction of animal migration.
Although our star appears calm and constant, it can sometimes explode, releasing huge amounts of energy - astronomers call these events solar flares. Flares occur in the atmosphere of our star, as well as in the corona and chromosphere. The plasma is heated to tens of millions of degrees Kelvin, and the particles are accelerated to almost the speed of light.
In an instant, 6 x 10 * 25 J of energy are released. Space telescopes observe bright emissions of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation during the activity of our star.
Solar flares today and online can be viewed below, information is posted online from the GOES 15 satellite. Their number and strength changes with the 11-year solar cycle.
The picture is updated automatically
Online magnetic storm chart from the SWPC satellite
GOES 15 is a spacecraft with a sophisticated X-ray telescope for monitoring and early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other phenomena that affect the space weather of the Earth and surrounding space.
Monitoring
Using the graph below you can see the strength of Solar flares for each day. Conventionally, they are divided into three classes: C, M, X, the maximum value of the red line wave characterizes the strength. Class X has maximum strength.
Early warning of flares is important because they affect not only the safety of people in orbit (particularly the ISS), but also military and commercial satellite communications. In addition, coronal mass ejections can damage long-distance power grids, which can lead to significant blackouts.
Flare data today from GOES satellite
The dynamically updated image shows the X-ray emission from our star, with an update period of 5 minutes. This one, indicated in orange, was obtained in a passband of 0.5-4.0 angstroms (0.05-0.4 nm), red 1-8 angstroms (0.1-0.8 nm).
When the Sun is active, they can occur quite often. Flares often go hand in hand with coronal mass ejections. 2013 will pose one of the biggest risks in human spaceflight. When a powerful coronal mass ejection is directed towards the Earth, a huge amount of radiation passes in close proximity to our planet.
Since the particles are accelerated to almost the speed of light, a dangerous storm of radiation will arrive within minutes of the flare on the surface of the Sun.
During a powerful solar storm, astronauts would have less than 15 minutes to find protection without receiving a potentially lethal dose of radiation.
This is what flashes look like up close
The most powerful flare ever recorded occurred on November 4, 2003, during the highest point of our star's activity. The star released such a huge amount of energy that it damaged sensors on one of NASA's geostationary environmental satellites.
Data for today
On the scale, which is constantly updated, there are 5 categories (in order of increasing radiation power): A, B, C, M and X. Also, each flash is assigned a specific number. For the first 4 categories this is a number from 0 to 10, and for category X it is from 0 and above.
