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The <keyword id="24879" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sun" source="Orion">Sun</keyword> has unleashed an intense solar flare, sparking radio blackouts in several parts of <keyword id="21718" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="asia" source="Orion">Asia</keyword> and <keyword id="6355478" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="australia" source="Orion">Australia</keyword>.<br /><br />According to the US Space Weather Prediction Center (<keyword id="5812299" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="swpc" source="Orion">SWPC</keyword>), the solar flare peaked late on April 17 at 3.34 GMT (9.04 IST) and was followed minutes later by a massive sun eruption known as a coronal mass ejection, Space.com reported.<br /><br />The flare registered as an X1.1-class sun storm and lasted about 34 minutes, SWPC officials said.A<br /><br />The flare originated from Regions 2994 and 2993, a cluster of active sunspots that has seen "significant flaring" since it appeared on the eastern limb of the Sun, according to the SWPC.<br /><br />"Solar activity is expected to be active over the next week as these sunspots migrate across the visible disk," the agency said in an update.<br /><br />The SWPC stated that the solar flare spawned a brief radio blackout and was classified as a Type II solar radio burst, the report said.<br /><br />"A pulse of X-rays from the flare produced a strong shortwave radio blackout over southeast Asia and Australia," said <keyword id="6360409" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword>'s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which recorded the X1-class solar flare.<br /><br />"Mariners, aviators, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz," it added.<br /><br />Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) confirm that the explosion hurled a CME into space.<br /><br />Analysts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the SWPC, modelled the CME's trajectory and determined that it will miss <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword>, passing behind our planet in its orbit around the sun, Spaceweather.com reported.<br /><br />"Such bursts are produced by shock waves in the leading edges of CMEs," astronomer Tony Phillips was quoted as saying. Because the eruption occurred at the very eastern limb of the sun, the coronal mass ejection it spawned is likely not directed at Earth, Phillips said.<br /><br />X-class solar flares are the strongest types of storms on the sun. The weakest sun flares are A-class, B- and C-class storms are also relatively moderate.<br /><br />More powerful M-class storms and above can supercharge the Earth's northern lights displays while the strongest X-class storms can pose a risk to satellites and astronauts in orbit when aimed directly at Earth.<br /><br />The latest solar flares come on the heels of an X1.3-class solar storm on March 30 and several C-class and M-class flares from different sunspot regions in recent weeks, the report said.<br /><br />The sun is currently in an increasingly active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle and the current cycle is known as Solar Cycle 25 which began in 2019.<br /><strong><br />SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/movie-theatre-chain-amc-to-accept-dogecoin-payments-for-tickets-and-snacks/articleshow/90911087.cms">Movie theatre chain AMC to accept Dogecoin payments for tickets and snacks</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/infosys-slide-9-on-poor-march-quarter-earnings-while-other-it-stocks-follow-the-suit/articleshow/90906646.cms"><strong>Infosys slide 9% on poor March quarter earnings; other IT stocks follow the suit</strong></a><br />

Solar flare sparks radio blackout in parts of Asia and Australia

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Four solar flares appeared to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-esa-solar-orbiter-captured-video-of-sun-eruptions-2021-5">erupt on the sun</a> at the same time on Monday night.</li><li>NASA video shows the simultaneous eruptions sent rapid bursts of bright light from the sun's surface.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/second-giant-coronal-hole-sun-solar-winds-space-weather-aurora-2023-3">The sun</a> is furiously demanding our attention again, flexing near the peak of its power with four eruptions at the same time.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-polar-vortex-video-from-solar-plasma-break-2023-2">Video footage from NASA</a>'s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that, around 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday evening, four solar flares erupted at once across the visible surface of the sun.</p><p>The rare quadruple eruption, shown below, is not an immediate <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2">danger to us on Earth</a>.</p><div type="image" title="gif of rotating blue sun shows sudden bright flashes from four regions of roiling bright blue light on the sun's disc" height="1024" width="1024" msid="109571395" hostid="261" sizebytes="115710"></div><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-time-lapse-video-sun-solar-cycle-10-years-2020-7">Solar flares</a> can send solar material screaming toward Earth, causing geomagnetic storms in our planet's atmosphere.</p><p>That can lead to GPS disruptions and radio blackouts, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/northern-lights-sky-friday-us-solar-winds-giant-hole-sun-2023-3">bring the beautiful northern lights further south</a>.</p><p>Indeed, a radio blackout occurred shortly after the flares, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storm-earth-northern-southern-lights-auroras-how-to-see-2023-4">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, though it was not clear from the agency's report whether this was linked.</p><p>"These things are very difficult to forecast, but I wouldn't expect too much geomagnetic activity from these particular events," Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told Business Insider in an email. "We might get something of a glancing blow from one of them in a day or two."</p><p>The SWPC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though these eruptions were facing Earth, as of Wednesday morning the center wasn't <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spaceweather.gov/communities/space-weather-enthusiasts-dashboard">forecasting</a> any geomagnetic storms for the next three days.</p><h2>A 'super-sympathetic' solar flare event</h2><p>The simultaneous and powerful flares probably resulted from one underlying trigger, in a phenomenon known as a "sympathetic solar flare."</p><p>Magnetic loops at the outermost part of the sun, called the corona, can connect sunspots or filaments. When one explodes, it creates an instability in these magnetic forces that can set off other eruptions, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&amp;day=23&amp;month=04&amp;year=2024">Spaceweather.com</a> explains.</p><p>It's a "domino effect," Owens said, "where one region becomes unstable and sets off activity in a bunch of other locations, often at great distance."</p><p>Sympathetic solar flares usually involve only two concurrent explosions, making this flare a "super-sympathetic" one.</p><p>"This is indeed a fascinating event. It's quite rare to find sympathetic flaring at four locations," Daniel Verscharen, a physicist and associate professor of space plasma at University College London, told BI in an email.</p><p>Scientists still don't understand the exact mechanism behind sympathetic flares.</p><p>"A likely explanation is that one flare erupts and triggers a disturbance that travels through the solar corona," Verscharen said. "This disturbance could be a shock wave that travels from the first flare around the sun. When this disturbance encounters another active region, it may trigger that region to become unstable and erupt as well."</p><h2>The sun is peaking</h2><p>Though this event appears striking, it's exactly the right time for rare events on the sun. Our star is near <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-maximum-could-sooner-than-expected-2023-6">solar maximum</a>, the peak of its 11-year cycle, where it becomes hyperactive.</p><p>That's why the last year has brought a barrage of solar flares, eruptions, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronal-hole-on-sun-blasts-solar-wind-toward-earth-2023-3">coronal holes that send winds of plasma</a> and magnetically charged particles washing over Earth.</p><p>Scientists aren't yet sure whether the sun has already hit solar maximum, but if it hasn't, then maximum is likely to occur within the next year.</p><p>From then on, solar activity will decline for years, meaning less radio and GPS disruption on Earth, as well as far fewer chances to see the northern lights.</p>

NASA video shows the sun just blasted out 4 eruptions at the same time. The rare event may have sent plasma hurtling toward Earth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-maximum-could-sooner-than-expected-2023-6">The sun</a> formed a giant <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-solar-tornado-plasma-2023-3">plasma</a> loop that burst into space on Saturday, shooting solar material at Earth.</li><li>This "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-footage-shows-sun-solar-activity-increasing-2023-5">coronal mass ejection</a>" reached Earth almost 12 hours earlier than top space forecasters predicted.</li></ul><p>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-parker-solar-probe-caught-massive-sun-eruption-on-camera-2023-9">giant explosion lashed out from the sun</a> this week, sending a flood of solar material careening toward Earth faster than forecasters realized.</p><p>It started with a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-polar-vortex-video-from-solar-plasma-break-2023-2">giant loop of plasma arcing from the sun</a> on Saturday. The snakey filament grew, oozing further and further from the sun's surface, until it accelerated away and burst into space.</p><p>Keith Strong, a solar physicist who has worked for Lockheed Martin and NASA, shared footage of the eruption on <a href="https://twitter.com/drkstrong/status/1703233704900907066">X</a>, the platform formerly known as Twitter.</p><p>"THE BIGGEST ERUPTION I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Strong wrote. "Note it covers over half <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photo-international-space-station-hidden-passing-sun-2023-4">the sun</a>."</p>  <p>NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory also captured the event. In the video clip below, which is a time-lapse covering several hours, you can see the plasma arc gathering, then <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pico-solar-flares-erupting-hole-in-sun-nasa-esa-images-2023-8">erupting</a>, in the center-right of the sun's disc.</p><div type="image" title="A gif od the sun during a coronal mass ejection." height="1024" width="1024" msid="103794193" hostid="261" sizebytes="115206"></div><p>Because it occurs in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/second-giant-coronal-hole-sun-solar-winds-space-weather-aurora-2023-3">the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona</a>, this type of eruption is called a coronal mass ejection (CME). CMEs fling charged, super-hot plasma into space, and sometimes — like in the case of this CME — that plasma strikes Earth.</p><p>Forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced that the CME would trigger a geomagnetic storm — a powerful disturbance in the planet's magnetic field, which can disrupt radio communications, drag satellites out of orbit, and even occasionally <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-solar-storm-blast-power-grids-chance-higher-next-years-2023-8">disable power grids</a>.</p><p>On the bright side, these solar storms also make stunning displays of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/northern-lights-aurora-could-appear-us-states-new-york-oregon-2023-9">the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, visible in the middle of the US</a>.</p><div type="image" title="ribbons of green pink purple northern lights stretch across the night sky above homes and lights of a sprawling town" height="1500" width="1999" msid="103794194" hostid="261" sizebytes="89226"></div><p>SWPC forecasters calculated that the CME from the giant filament eruption would reach Earth on Monday evening.</p><p>But around 9 a.m. Eastern Time, NOAA sensors in space captured a sudden, dramatic shift in Earth's geomagnetic field. The CME had already arrived, nearly 12 hours earlier than forecasted.</p><h2>Why was the space-weather forecast so wrong?</h2><p>To forecast the arrival time and intensity of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storms-flares-dangerous-effects-earth-sun">solar storms</a>, NOAA relies on spacecraft to act as "buoys" to gather data on the stream of particles flowing from the sun toward Earth. Right now, though, only one of those buoys is in a helpful position.</p><div type="image" title="Solar Wind" height="360" width="640" msid="103794196" hostid="261" sizebytes="42846"></div><p>"We only have a single viewpoint of the sun for the next year or so. It's like playing tennis with one eye closed — we have poor depth perception," Matt Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told Insider in an email.</p><p>"Making precise timing predictions is difficult due to the complex nature of space weather, along with a limited number of space-based sensors," Bryan Brasher, a spokesperson for SWPC, told Insider via email.</p><p>The other piece of the solar-storm forecast is the strength of the storm once it arrives. That's "very difficult" to predict, according to Daniel Verscharen, an associate professor of space and climate physics at University College London.</p><p>"This always depends on the direction of the magnetic field in the plasma cloud. If it is pointing in the opposite direction to the Earth's magnetic field, then the geomagnetic storm becomes particularly strong," he told Insider via email.</p><p>The SWPC got its intensity forecast right for this CME, though. It predicted a moderate geomagnetic storm, which is classified as G2, with a change for a strong G3 storm. The storm that ultimately occurred was mostly G2, peaking at G3 overnight.</p><h2>More solar storms are surely coming</h2><div type="image" title="coronal mass ejection cme solar eruption gif" height="1024" width="1024" msid="103794197" hostid="261" sizebytes="22442"></div><p>This was just the latest in a series of 22 CMEs that occurred in one week, with three of them pointing at Earth, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/NASASun/status/1703438899169616318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a>.</p><p>"The sun's been very active this last week," Owens said.</p><p>In fact, the sun has been getting more active for years, as it builds toward a decadal peak of activity. Experts initially predicted the sun would hit its peak in 2025, but now it looks closer to mid-2024.</p><p>As a result, more solar storms have been coming our way.</p><h2>We got lucky this time</h2><p>Another structure on the sun  — called a coronal hole — is also forming this week, bringing with it fast solar winds. On a different day, all of these effects combined could have created a very violent solar storm.</p><div type="image" title="the sun glowing yellow-orange orb in black space covered in roiling plasma with two dark large spots" height="1024" width="1024" msid="103794198" hostid="261" sizebytes="42140"></div><p>The best-case scenario is that incoming storms <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/northern-lights-aurora-borealis-visible-17-states-including-new-york-2023-7">trigger beautiful aurorae</a>, much further south than usual. That's what happened this time: Spectators <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1704111883194642727" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> seeing the aurora in Montana, Missouri, <a href="https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1704177311547871304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a>, and the UK.</p><p>In the worst-case scenario, which is very rare, all the conditions align to send a very fast and very powerful solar storm to Earth. This once-a-century event would be so powerful it could disrupt Earth's geomagnetic fields and damage infrastructure, like power grids and satellites. </p><p>But this week, the eruptions and coronal holes are "a bit too slow and a bit too spread out," according to Owens. </p><p>"These are all the right ingredients for some serious space weather — multiple Earth-directed CMEs and some fast coronal hole wind — but it's not quite been combined in the way to cause real concern in this instance," Owens said, adding: </p><p>"There's a good chance for some decent aurora the next couple of nights. But probably not any major concerns for power grids, etc."</p>

A giant eruption covered 'over half the sun,' then crashed into Earth nearly 12 hours earlier than forecast

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></span></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><span>A geomagnetic storm is said to be hitting Earth on Saturday, which is expected to cause <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/northern-lights">northern lights</a> in northern regions of the globe.</span></li><li><span>The northern lights could potentially be seen in the northern-most United States.</span></li><li><span>The northern lights will be most visible at night when it's dark.</span></li></ul><p><span>People who wouldn't usually expect to see colorful northern lights may get a chance to experience the night sky show on Saturday.</span></p><p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a moderate geomagnetic storm watch alert on Friday, saying that the storm watch is in effect for Saturday.&#xa0;&#xa0;</p><p>According to NOAA's chart, the northern lights will likely extend down to upstate New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, northern Idaho, and Washington state.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>The geomagnetic storm that's causing the northern lights began on Friday, but the lights themselves are only likely to be visible at night.</p><h2>When to look out for the northern lights</h2><p>Residents in the northern-most United States will have the highest chance of seeing the northern lights when it gets dark on Saturday.</p><p>The sun will begin to set in New York and northeastern states at 7:11 p.m.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast">NOAA's forecast</a>, the northern lights will be most visible in the northeastern United States starting at around 10:55 p.m.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>&#xa0;</p><h2>The Canadian Space Agency's tips on how to watch the northern lights</h2><p>Despite the unusually high likelihood that people further south on Earth could see the northern lights, catching them won't be a given. Luckily, the <a href="http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/auroramax/viewing-tips.asp">Canadian Space Agency</a> has some tips which we've quoted below:</p><ul><li>Consult the weather forecast before leaving. Cloud cover obscures the aurora.</li><li>If possible, choose a night without moonlight. The bright glare of the Moon-especially the full Moon-illuminates the night sky and makes fainter auroras invisible. (<em>BI: Unfortunately, the moon will be 92% illuminated on Saturday night, making for less ideal conditions to see the northern lights clearly).&#xa0;</em></li><li>Dress warmly and choose a location with dark skies. Light pollution from bright city lights makes it difficult to see the aurora.</li><li>If the aurora is moving slowly, keep your eyes peeled! The intensity can change very rapidly at any moment.</li><li>Look around you in all directions. During periods of heightened activity, the aurora can appear anywhere in the sky, not just on the northern horizon.</li></ul><h2>Some experts aren't too optimistic&#xa0;</h2><p><span>"I would not drive out of my way for this particular event," said Terry Onsager, a physicist at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/science/northern-lights-united-states.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes">The New York Times</a>. Onsager said there's no guarantee that the geomagnetic storm will actually hit earth, and if it does, it will do so in the middle of the day on Saturday when the northern lights are least visible. The best chance to see the lights would be at night.</span></p><p>There might also be cloud cover in many parts of the northeast, according to Ohio-based NBC4 meteorologist Ben Gelber, who also spoke with The New York Times.&#xa0;</p><p>Despite Gelber's predictions about cloud cover, it's still a good idea to look at your own area's weather forecast. Syracuse, NY, where the northern lights could potentially be seen, is forecasted for a clear night on Saturday.</p><h2>You can always watch the northern lights being streamed online below</h2><p>&#xa0;</p><p>&#xa0;</p><div></div>

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Solar flare sparks radio blackout in parts of Asia and Australia

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NASA video shows the sun just blasted out 4 eruptions at the same time. The rare event may have sent plasma hurtling toward Earth.

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A giant eruption covered 'over half the sun,' then crashed into Earth nearly 12 hours earlier than forecast

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Northern lights could appear in New York and other US states this weekend - here's how to watch them

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