The strength and frequency of flares, along with many other aspects of solar activity, vary within
The greatest formation of magnetic field loops,sunspots and flares occur in the middle of this cycle—the so-called solar maximum. As the current maximum approaches (projected around 2024), the number of flares increases sharply.
The most powerful solar flares of 2022
Solar flares are classified according toon how bright they are in soft X-rays. Let us recall that it is characterized by the lowest photon energy and frequency of radiation (and longest wavelength). The weakest flares are classified as Class A or B, and the strongest are classified as Class C, M or X. Each letter represents a 10x increase in energy. Each class has a numerical scale from 1 to 9.
High-tech table, data: spaceweatherlive.com
The largest outbreak recorded was in1859 It is named after the English astronomer Richard Carrington, who accidentally noticed it while observing the Sun. Its soft X-ray peak is estimated at X45. The second largest is dated 2003, and its power is X35.
How dangerous are they?
The flare's high-energy X-ray and ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by Earth's upper atmosphere, and its magnetic field deflects most of the sun's protons.
The problem is that individual atomsand gas molecules in the planet's atmosphere become ionized, or electrically charged, when they absorb radiation from the flares. This can interfere with shortwave radio communications, which are based on the reflection of signals from charged gases in the ionospheric layer. Electric currents that flow through ionized gases and inside a proton storm can also distort the overall structure of the Earth's magnetic field.
Photo: flickr
Thus, X-class flares can cause interruptions inradio communications and long-term radiation storms in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. M-class events can cause radio blackouts in the Earth's polar regions along with small radiation storms.
Is the Earth threatened by a superflare?
Superflares are very strong explosionsobserved on stars with energies 10,000 times the energy of typical solar flares. They appear on stars that have very strong magnetic fields. This means that they are associated with stronger activity than our Sun.
However, superflares are really all the sameappear around stars like ours. Evidence from studies of carbon isotopes in tree rings suggests that such coronal mass ejections could have been caused by the Sun thousands of years ago and therefore may occur in the future. However, the probability of this is extremely small.
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