Solar flares erupt from the Sun again! Does Earth need to worry?

Sun regularly emits solar flares, some of which are massive and dangerous enough to even interfere with the electronics and electrical infrastructure back here on Earth, including navigation systems, Satellites, Internet and more. The solar flares that interfere with the communications systems are emitted by sunspots when they are fired in the direction of the Earth. Now, at the fag end of October, astronomers have detected a new sunspot that is firing off massive solar flares into space.

While it remains unclear exactly which region of the sun shot off the solar flares, it is surmised that it would be a sunspot that is on the other side of the Sun and not facing Earth.

"At least half a dozen explosions occurred during that brief movie...The blast site is hidden just behind the edge of the sun. It's almost certainly an unstable sunspot," Space.com said quoting a report by SpaceWeather.com.

It is worth noting that the spot on the sun from where these solar flares emanated is in a region that is not facing the Earth. Instead it is on the opposite side. The report said that the scientists will get a better view of the region from where these solar flares are emerging when it rotates into view of the Earth in around 24 to 48 hours. The sun's rotation varies by latitude and it takes 24 Earth days to rotate at the equator and more than 30 days at the poles.

But that is not the only activity going on the surface of the sun. A separate report by Space.com details a solar flare being fired off from the region of the sun facing the Earth. NASA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) reported that the Sun fired off an X1-class solar flare on October 28 that peaked at 11:35AM EDT (or 9:05PM IST). “An R3 (Strong radio blackout) event took place due to an X1 flare at 1535 UTC (11:35 am EDT) on 28 October from Region 2887. The impulsive flare appeared to have coronal mass ejection (CME) related signatures,” SWPC wrote on its platform.

Report said that the coronal mass ejection or CME from this solar flare is expected to reach the Earth by Saturday or Sunday in time for Halloween. “The eruption could supercharge Earth's northern lights and potentially interfere with satellite-based communications,” the report said.