Another active spot appeared on the Sun. On Wednesday, December 14, it generated as many as 8 flares of average power. Fortunately, none of them generated a coronal mass ejection that could interfere with our planet.
New active spot on the Sun
There is phenomenal activity in the Sun again. The reason for it is the spot AR3165. On Wednesday, December 14, at 04:42 p.m. GMT+2, a flare of class M6 occurred above its surface. It is not considered the most powerful possible, although under certain conditions it can lead to problems with equipment on Earth. In particular, in February, a similar event disabled a number of Starlink satellites.
But it didn’t stop there. Almost immediately after the first sunspot, three more flares of the M6, M3 and M2 classes were generated. In general, the number of flares of average power by 07:30 p.m. was 8. Experts expected a more powerful event of class X, but it never happened.
Fortunately, all the radiation was not directed towards the Earth. In addition, none of the flares was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection — plasma separation from the Sun. So it’s not worth expecting magnetic storms in the coming days.
Solar flares will continue
But scientists continue to monitor the situation on the Sun. The current cycle of its activity turned out to be more restless than the previous ones, which greatly surprised scientists. This year already distinguished itself with several powerful Class X flares, which caused communication problems in different regions of the Earth.
Each time it all started with an overly active sun spot. So, it is quite possible that AR3165 will still surprise us unpleasantly. As the 25th solar cycle approaches its maximum in 2025, scientists expect truly destructive Class X flares, which, in turn, is distributed into several subclasses that differ greatly in power.
Humanity has been observing solar activity for only 200 years. Since that time, only a few more than a century has accounted for the existence of a developed electrical network. Therefore, it is quite possible that we have not seen a really powerful flare yet.
According to www.space.com
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