The “cosmic flames” recently observed by NASA could soon “bombard” the Earth’s magnetosphere in the coming days.
The bright flares were captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on May 5, a spacecraft orbiting our parent star during a peak activity phase.
In the next few days, these flares are expected to reach Earth and cause geomagnetic storms.
A solar flare erupting from the “cosmic gun” – (Photo: NASA).
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, the intensity levels of the flares are X1.3 and X1.2. The X classification is the highest on NOAA’s scale for solar eruptions.
Both flares originated from the active sunspot group AR 3663.
The sunspots on the parent star, easily visible in SDO’s observational data, are likened to a “cosmic gun.“
These are dark, relatively cool areas on the Sun’s photosphere, formed due to the strong concentration of solar magnetic fields disrupting convection and lowering temperatures in those areas.
In other words, they represent an energy bottleneck. When the magnetic energy builds up to a certain point, it “explodes,” creating flares or occasionally plasma bursts known as “coronal mass ejections” (CMEs).
These energy “bullets” will create disturbances upon colliding with Earth’s magnetosphere, resulting in geomagnetic storms.
Humans cannot directly perceive these geomagnetic storms – they may only see the accompanying auroras in some areas close to the Arctic – but radio systems, GPS devices, and satellites will be affected.
Migratory birds may also become disoriented for a short period. In rare cases, extremely strong geomagnetic storms can cause power grid failures in some locations.
According to Science Alert, there are currently up to 9 clusters or regions of sunspots – made up of 150 small and large sunspots – on the side of the Sun facing Earth.
However, AR 3663 appears to be the most active. It emerged on April 30 and has since produced 14 moderate (M-class) flares and 3 X-class flares.
At least 1-2 more X-class flares are expected to be released before this cosmic gun turns away.
It is normal for the Sun to intensify its attacks on Earth during its 11-year cycle, which is predicted to peak in 2024 or 2025 before returning to a quieter phase.
