NASA SDO: Incredible Solar Flare Video Captured

A NASA satellite charged with staring at the sun captured an incredible view of a powerful solar flare on Thursday (Oct. 2).

The space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) caught sight of the flare as it erupted from an active region on the right side of the sun, according to NASA.

The spacecraft' spectacular videos of the solar flare, as well as still images, show the sun storm erupting from the sunspot AR2172-AR2173.

The flare reached its peak at 3:01 p.m. EDT (1901 GMT) on Tuesday. While the M7.3-class flare did cause a coronal mass ejection, an explosion of super-hot solar plasma, the eruption was not directed at Earth, and should not pose a concern for satellites in orbit or the planet as a whole, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Office.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this photo of an M7.3-class solar flare erupting from the sun on Oct. 2, 2014.

Credit: NASA/SDO

M-class flares are about one-tenth as powerful as the strongest solar flares, which are known as X-class flares.

"Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However, when intense enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel," NASA Goddard Space Flight Center spokeswoman Karen Fox wrote in a statement.

The sun has unleashed a series of X-class flares this year. In early September, the star fired off two large flares in rapid succession.

Those solar storms, which were pointed toward Earth, created some amazing aurora displays. Powerful solar tempests can supercharge Earth's auroras, causing curtains of green light to dance in the skies of the high northern and southern latitudes.

The northern lights are created when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's upper atmosphere, bombarding neutral particles and creating the lights of the auroras.

NASA SDO: Extreme Solar Flare heading to Earth

The Sun by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. 

Credit: NASA

Scientists say an extreme X-Class solar flare is blasting its way to Earth and could mess up some power grids, satellites and radio transmissions.

Forecasters at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center don't yet know when Wednesday's solar storm will arrive here and which part of the planet will be facing the sun and bear the brunt of the effects.

It could be as early as Thursday morning to a few days.

Prediction Center director Tom Berger said scientists will have a better idea after they get more satellite data.

The X-Class flare is considered extreme on forecasters' scale, but just barely. Flares like this cause geomagnetic storms which can knock some power grids offline temporarily.

They also can damage satellites and disrupt radio transmissions but they expand the colourful Aurora Borealis (northern lights).

NASA SDO: Sun Unleashes Major X1.3 Class Solar Flare - Video

The sun erupted with a massive solar flare late Thursday (April 24), triggering a temporary communications blackout on some parts of Earth.

The powerful flare peaked at 8:27 p.m. EDT Thursday (0027 April 25 GMT), and ranked as an X1.3-class solar storm, one of the strongest types of flares the sun can experience, according to a report from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured video of the intense solar flare in several difference wavelengths.

The solar flare erupted from an active sunspot region known as Region 2035 located on the far western side (or limb) of the sun as seen from Earth.

Because of its position, the flare sparked a high-frequency radio blackout for about an hour on the daytime side of Earth, most likely over the Pacific Ocean and Eastern Pacific Rim, according to the SWPC update.

An X1.3-class solar flare (far right) erupts from the surface of the sun on April 24, 2014 EDT (April 25 GMT).

Credit: NASA /Solar Dynamics Observatory

"Region 2035 is rotating out of view and won't pose any danger for much longer, but could in the immediate future," SWPC officials wrote in the update.

When aimed directly at Earth, X-class solar flares can endanger astronauts in space, as well as interfere with communications and navigation satellites in orbit.

The most powerful X-class flares can also affect power grids and other infrastructure on the Earth.

Thursday's solar flare was the fourth X-class solar flare of 2014. It followed an X1.2 solar flare on Jan. 7, a monster X4.9 solar flare on Feb. 24, as well as an X1 solar flare on March 29.

NASA SDO: M6-class Solar Flare Launches Super-Heated Plasma Into Space - Video

An M6-class flare erupted from a sunspot on the Sun on April 2nd, 2014 and was observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). 

The bright magnetic burst is seen in two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light: 304 Angstroms and 171 Angstroms.

NASA SDO Video: 'Psychedelic' Burst viewed in Different Wavelengths

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the M9.3-class flare on March 12, 2014. 

SDO cameras capture imagery at many wavelengths to study solar material and processes that are not visible to the human eye.

Credit: NASA / SDO

NASA SDO images: Significant solar flare - X-class

An X-class solar flare erupted on the left side of the sun on the evening of Feb. 24, 2014. 

This composite image, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite at 7:59 p.m. EST, shows the sun in X-ray light with wavelengths of both 131 and 171 angstroms. 

Credit: NASA /Solar Dynamics Observatory

The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 7:49 p.m. EST on Feb. 24, 2014.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which keeps a constant watch on the sun, captured images of the event.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation, appearing as giant flashes of light in the SDO images.

Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however, when intense enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

To see how this event may impact Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

These SDO images from 7:25 p.m. EST on Feb. 24, 2014, show the first moments of an X-class flare in different wavelengths of light -- seen as the bright spot that appears on the left limb of the sun. 

Hot solar material can be seen hovering above the active region in the sun's atmosphere, the corona. Image 

Credit: NASA/SDO

This flare is classified as an X4.9-class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.

NASA SDO IRIS: Recording its largest Flare to date

On Jan. 28, 2014, NASA's Solar Observatory IRIS witnessed its strongest solar flare since it launched in the summer of 2013. Credit: NASA/IRIS

On Jan. 28, 2014, NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), witnessed its strongest solar flare since it launched in the summer of 2013.

Solar flares are bursts of x-rays and light that stream out into space, but scientists don't yet know the fine details of what sets them off.

IRIS peers, with unprecedented resolution, into a layer of the sun's lower atmosphere just above the surface, called the chromosphere, the second of the three main layers in the Sun's atmosphere that is roughly 2,000 kilometers deep.

However, IRIS can't look at the entire sun at the same time, so the team must always make decisions about what region might provide useful observations.

On Jan. 28, scientists spotted a magnetically active region on the sun and focused IRIS on it to see how the solar material behaved under intense magnetic forces.

At 2:40 p.m. EST, a moderate flare, labeled an M-class solar flare, which is the second strongest class flare after X-class solar flare, erupted from the area, sending light and x-rays into space.

IRIS studies the chromosphere, which is key to regulating the flow of energy and material as it travels from the sun's surface out into space.

Along the way, the energy heats up the upper atmosphere, the corona, and sometimes powers solar events such as this flare.

IRIS is equipped with an instrument called a spectrograph that can separate out the light it sees into its individual wavelengths, which in turn correlates to material at different temperatures, velocities and densities.

The spectrograph on IRIS was pointed right into the heart of this flare when it reached its peak, and so the data obtained can help determine how different temperatures of material flow, giving scientists more insight into how flares work.

On Jan. 28, 2014, NASA's recently-launched IRIS, observed its strongest solar flare to date. 

Credit: NASA /IRIS /SDO /Goddard Space Flight Center

The IRIS telescope was designed and built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory while Montana State University faculty and students assisted in the design of the spectrograph.

The Ames Pleiades supercomputer is used to carry out many of the numerical simulations that are led by the University of Oslo.

Physicists monitoring huge solar event - Magnetic Field Reversal - Video

The sun's magnetic field is poised to reverse its polarity. The effects of the event will be closely monitored by Stanford solar physicists. Credit: Kurt Hickman

The sun's magnetic field is poised to reverse its polarity. The effects of the event, which occurs every 11 years, will ripple throughout the solar system and be closely monitored by Stanford solar physicists.

Every 11 years, the sun undergoes a complete makeover when the polarity of its magnetic field – its magnetic north and south – flips. The effects of this large-scale event ripple throughout the solar system.

Although the exact internal mechanism that drives the shift is not entirely understood, researchers at Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory have monitored the sun's magnetic field on a daily basis since 1975 and can identify the process as it occurs on the sun's surface. This will be the fourth shift the observatory has monitored.

New polarity builds up throughout the 11-year solar cycle as sunspots – areas of intense magnetic activity – appear as dark blotches near the equator of the sun's surface.

Over the course of a month, a sunspot spreads out, and gradually that magnetic field migrates from the equator to one of the sun's poles.


As the polarity moves toward the pole, it erodes the existing, opposite polarity, said Todd Hoeksema, a solar physicist at Stanford since 1978 and director of the Wilcox Solar Observatory.

The magnetic field gradually reduces toward zero, and then rebounds with the opposite polarity.

"It's kind of like a tide coming in or going out," Hoeksema said. "Each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal."

The effects of this event are widespread: The area of space where the sun's magnetic field exerts its influence – called the heliosphere – stretches well beyond Pluto, past NASA's Voyager probes near the edge of interstellar space.

The sun is also typically at the peak of its activity during a magnetic field reversal, which, in addition to an increased number of sunspots, is marked by a surge in solar flares and mass ejections.

The sun's changing magnetic field and the bursts of charged particles can interact with Earth's own magnetic field, one manifestation of which is a noticeable uptick in the occurrence and range of auroras.

Earth's magnetic field can also affect major electronic systems, Hoeksema said, such as power distribution grids and GPS satellites, so scientists are keen to monitor the heliosphere.

"We also see the effects of this on other planets," Hoeksema said. "Jupiter has storms, Saturn has auroras, and this is all driven by activity of the sun."

NASA SDO: Powerful Solar Flare recorded

An M9-class eruption lofted a faint coronal mass ejection towards Earth on Oct. 24th, 2013. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the fireworks.

Credit: NASA / SDO

Major X1.7-Class Solar Flare Erupts from the Sun - Strongest of 2013

The sun unleashed a colossal Mother's Day solar flare on Sunday (May 12) in what has become the most powerful solar eruption of the year.

The giant solar flare, which registered as one of the largest eruptions the sun can unleash, peaked Sunday night at 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 GMT) and was captured on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

It sparked an hour-long high-frequency radio blackout, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) overseen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Sunday's solar flare registered as an X1.7-class sun eruption — the strongest type of solar flare the sun can fire off, according to the SWPC officials.


A close-up of an an X1.7-class solar flare on May 12, 2013 as seen by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

When aimed directly at Earth, X-class solar flares can pose a risk to astronauts and satellites in orbit, as well as interfere with communications and GPS signals on the ground.

They can also super-charge Earth's northern lights displays by bombarding the planet with solar particles, triggering awesome aurora light shows.

NASA SDO Video: Sun's most powerful Solar Flare and CME

The most powerful solar flare of the year erupted from the sun today (April 11) sparking a temporary radio blackout on Earth, NASA officials say.

The solar flare occurred at 3:16 a.m. EDT (0716 GMT) and registered as a M6.5-class sun storm, a relatively mid-level flare on the scale of solar tempests. It coincided with an eruption of super-hot solar plasma known as a coronal mass ejection.

"This is the strongest flare seen so far in 2013," NASA spokeswoman Karen Fox explained in a statement. "Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, since the sun's normal 11-year cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in late 2013."

NASA's sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a stunning video of the strongest solar flare of 2013, showing it extreme detail. The spacecraft is one of several space-based observatories keeping track of the sun's solar weather events.


NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a powerful M6.5 class flare, the strongest of 2013 at the time, at 3:16 EDT on April 11, 2013. 

This image shows a combination of light in wavelengths of 131 and 171 Angstroms.

CREDIT: NASA/SDO

NASA officials dubbed today's solar flare as a "spring fling" for the sun, which has been relatively calm as it heads into its peak activity period.

Today's M-class solar flare was about 10 times weaker than X-class flares, which are the strongest flares the sun can unleash. M-class solar flares are the weakest solar events that can still trigger space weather effects near Earth, such as communications interruptions or spectacular northern lights displays.

The solar flare triggered a short-lived radio communications blackout on Earth that registered as an R2 event (on a scale of R1 to R5), according to space weather scales maintained NOAA, Fox added.

When aimed directly at Earth, major solar flares and coronal mass ejections can pose a threat to astronauts and satellites in orbit. They can interfere with GPS navigation and communications satellite signals in space, as well as impair power systems infrastructure on Earth.

Fox said NASA officials are tracking the coronal mass ejection to see if it poses any space weather concerns for Earth. Meanwhile, the Solar Dynamics Observatory and other space observatories will continue to monitor the sun's activity.

"Humans have tracked this solar cycle continuously since it was discovered, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity," Fox explained.

Solar Prominence - Image

A section of the solar disk. The massive detached prominence was visible for hours.

Recent Solar Filament Creates Northern Lights over Canada [PHOTO]

Swirls of green and red appear in an aurora over Whitehorse, Yukon on the night of September 3, 2012. 

The aurora was due to the interaction of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun with Earth's magnetosphere. 

The CME left the sun on August 31 and arrived on September 3.

Credit: David Cartier, Sr./NASA

Beautiful swirls of green and red lights appeared in the sky over Whitehorse, a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon, on the night of 3 September.

The lights were caused by a whip-like solar filament, ejected as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The phenomenon did not connect with the Earth directly but glanced off the planet's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere.

The CME erupted on the surface of the Sun on 31 August and travelled towards Earth at a speed of more than 900 miles per second, according to NASA. In March 2010, a solar filament loop that erupted on the Sun's surface was as large as the circumference of the Earth.

The filament touched the magnetosphere a mere three days later - the distance between the planet and the Sun is roughly 149,785,000km - causing phenomenon called the Aurora Borealis (also known as the Northern Lights) to appear over Whitehorse.

Auroras are actually energy released in the form of colorful lights and are seen in skies at dusk.
 

NASA SDO Image: long filament of solar material - HD Video

A long filament erupted on the sun on August 31, 2012, shown here in a movie captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) from noon EDT to 1:45 a.m. the next morning.

The filament lies in the lower left corner of the sun.

The movie shows light at 304 Angstroms and 171 Angstroms, both of which help scientists observe the sun's atmosphere, or corona.

A long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupts out into space.

The coronal mass ejection, or CME, travelled at over 900 miles per second. 

The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing auroras to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.

Picture: NASA/GSFC/SDO / Rex Features

Solar filament extends over half a million miles

The sun isn't about just heat and fire. It's also about texture, variegated colours and occasional violent outbursts.

Here, a whip-like solar filament extends over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun’s surface.

Filaments are exceedingly hot ionized gasses that are magnetically anchored to the sun's photosphere.

Viewed against the blackness of space, they're very bright and are known as prominences.

Viewed with the sun itself as a backdrop, they appear darker since they're cooler than the overall solar mass. That more-modest appearance also earns them a more modest name.

A more recent and much larger Solar Filament eruption is shown below.

  This image was captured by the NASA SDO.

SDO Image: Solar Activity in a new region - Helioviewer

There may be a new active region in town soon! An as of yet unnumbered region rotating almost into view released a series of small to moderate flares including a high C-class and an M1.3 solar flare. 

Credit: SDO, NOAA/GOES, helioviewer.org

The M flare produced a brief radio blackout. Once the region is more on the disk we will have to see if it produces any interesting events.

There is a nice sized filament sitting to the West of the region. The current activity is not considered high or of any concern. Just a region to keep an eye on.

Recent Solar flare recorded today.

Observing Sunrise: Solar scientists review Hinode findings

Japan has a long tradition in solar physics and in 2006 launched one of the major space observatories – Hinode, which means 'sunrise' in Japanese.

For almost six years this satellite has been constantly monitoring our local star with a suite of three telescopes: the Solar Optical Telescope, X-ray Telescope and Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS).

Solar Optical Telecope

Together, they enable the study of how magnetic energy is generated and released in the atmosphere of our Sun.

This week in St. Andrews over 150 scientists from around the world gathered for the "Hinode 6" conference to celebrate what has been learnt using the Hinode satellite.

Although launched and led by Japan, the satellite has major contributions from the UK, the USA and Norway.

Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)

Unexpectedly, St. Andrews has a connection to Hinode’s modern observing methods that dates back to the late 1600s.

The Scottish mathematician James Gregory upon walking along the beach in St. Andrews, Scotland, picked up a feather and wondered what would happen if a beam of light were shone through it.

Isaac Newton was conducting similar experiments with glass prisms in Cambridge.

Back in his lab, Gregory saw that the feather split the light into its component colours in a process now known as diffraction – a simple technique that is used today in many solar telescopes as it allows us to measure the properties of sunlight and in turn learn about the star that emitted it.

The Solar Science department at UCL led the development of the EIS telescope - a modern equivalent to the bird’s feather - which splits the ultraviolet light emitted from atmospheric gases into the component colours.

A major topic for discussion at the conference has been how magnetic fields that emanate up from the Sun’s surface into the atmosphere, create structures that glow in ultraviolet and X-rays and produce activity such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME).

A large X-class flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. Image credit: JAXA/Hinode

High-speed gas flows associated to solar flares have been observed, helping scientists understand the processes that convert energy stored in the magnetic fields into energy of gas motions.

Computer models have been combined with observations to understand how currents surge along the magnetic structures, supported by the charged particles of the atmospheric gases, heating the atmospheric gases to very high temperatures.

Read the full article here at SEN: Solar scientists review Hinode findings

M6-Class Solar Flare Erupts Towards Earth - Video

An M6-Class flare erupted fron Sunspot AR1532 on July 28th, 2012. 

Earth lies in the the path of the super-heated coronal mass ejection (CME). 

Geomagnetic storms are possible when the storm arrives.

Watch the Video of the Solar Storm Forecast to hit Earth: Solar Storm - Strong Sun Flare Erupts Towards Earth | Video

SDO Image of Latest CME and Solar Flares

The Sun is becoming increasingly active as it heads towards the maximum of the eleven year solar cycle in 2013, and two powerful solar flares have erupted so far this month.

The first flare erupted from the limb of the solar disc in active region 1515 on 6 July, and was classed as an X 1.1 flare.

X-class flares are the most powerful type of solar flares, with M-class being slightly less powerful.

On 12 July, an X 1.4 flare was emitted from active region 1520, which first rotated into view on 6 July.

The active region of sunspots stretched for around 300,000 kilometres across the solar surface.

There was also a coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the flare.

The CMEs are much larger eruptions than the localised flares, and move towards Earth at a slower speed than the flares.

CMEs can impact the technological infrastructure on Earth, such as power generation as well as satellite functions in orbit.

Their arrival also produces aurora and astronomers have been on alert to search for and photograph the dancing green glows.

The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) B spacecraft measured the speed of the CME travelling to Earth to be around 1350 kilometres per second.

The particles from the CME hit the Earth’s atmosphere on the night of 14 July, and aurorae were reported at high latitudes.

The image shows the Sun as seen by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on 12 July shortly before the X 1.4 flare was released.

The picture combines a set of observations known as magnetogram with light at a wavelength of 171 Angstroms.

The magnetogram highlights magnetic field lines on the Sun, and assists scientists in understanding the dynamics of the solar magnetic field prior to an outburst.

The light at 171 Angstroms is used to emphasise the giant loops of material emanating from active region 1520.

The 12 July flare is the sixth X-class flare of 2012, and it is likely that there will be many more to come.

Read more about CMEs and Solar Flares: Space Weather

NASA Solar Observations: More than sunshine to Science

The Sun’s influence reaches billions of kilometres to interstellar space, and its effect on the solar system is more complex than its gravitational forces.

Beyond its gravitational influence the Sun affects the atmospheres and magnetic fields of all the planetary bodies in its empire as the solar wind blasts past the planets at mind-blowing speeds toward interstellar space.

Here on Earth, the constant visual luminescence of our life-giving Sun hides a darker side of violent activity that is capable of damaging our technological infrastructure.

To understand the impact of the Sun on Earth it’s important to describe the different types of solar activity.

Solar wind
We have known since the early days of the space age that the atmosphere of the Sun is much hotter than its surface, meaning that the hot gases are constantly expanding out into space forming a solar wind.

The flow of gas takes with it magnetic fields that fill the solar atmosphere. The wind only stops blowing when it encounters the interstellar medium and forms a vast bubble in space in which the Solar System resides.

The Earth is constantly being buffeted by this gusty solar wind that blows with speeds of several hundred kilometres per second.

The vast bubble of solar wind is known as the heliosphere and NASA’s Voyager spacecraft are now exploring its far-reaches almost 40 years after they were launched.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)
More recently we discovered that the solar wind isn't the only kind of outflow from the Sun that the Solar System gets subjected to. In 1971, ejections of immense bubbles of magnetic field containing charged particles were discovered blasting away from the Sun.

These eruptions travel with speeds of up to 2000 kilometres per second, quickly expand to become many times larger than the Sun itself and are referred to as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

CMEs are bulk eruptions of bubbles of magnetic field and gas from the solar atmosphere. The gas and the magnetic field are tied together.

These eruptions take anywhere between 1 and 4 days to reach the Earth. We see them leave and have some time to prepare.

When they reach us the magnetic field of the CMEs interacts with that of the Earth, and the particles of the solar gas spiral onto the Earth's magnetic field lines, driving space weather effects such as problems with satellites, power lines, changes to the ionosphere and more.

If the particles that spiral along the Earth's field lines make it all the way down to the atmosphere, they can energise the atmosphere gases and make them glow producing the aurora.

CMEs can head in any direction, including toward the Earth. We have been hit by coronal mass ejections many times in the past and will continue to be hit in the future.

Solar prominence
A solar prominence is the name given to clouds of relatively cool gas that are held aloft in the Sun's hot atmosphere.

We think today that the gas is held up by dips in the magnetic field - everything comes back to magnetic fields!

Prominences are the name given to these features when they are observed at the edge of the Sun. Sometimes the magnetic field of the prominence becomes unstable and it erupts upward away from the Sun carrying the gas with it - a coronal mass ejection is born!

So, prominence eruptions are a subset of all coronal mass ejections. If these reach the Earth the resulting space weather can be strong because they carry so many particles from the Sun's atmosphere.

Read more here