A Powerful Solar Flare
Explanation:
Yesterday, our Sun produced one of the
most powerful solar flares in recorded history.
Seen across the
electromagnetic spectrum, the
Sun
briefly became over 100 times brighter in
X-rays
than normal.
Over the next few days, as
energetic particles emitted from these regions strike the Earth,
satellite communications might be affected and auroras might develop.
The
flare and resulting
CME, emitted from
giant sunspot group 10486, was
captured above as it happened by the by the
LASCO instrument aboard the Sun-orbiting
SOHO satellite.
The disk of the Sun is
covered to accentuate surrounding areas.
The time-lapse movie shows the
tremendous explosion in
frames separated in real time by about 30 minutes each.
The frames appear progressively noisier as
protons
from the
CME begin to strike the detector.
The SOHO satellite has been put in a temporary safe mode to avoid damage from the
solar particle storm.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
