Decaying sunspot may spark M-class solar flares, NOAA satellites reveal; Solar storm brewing? | Tech News

Decaying sunspot may spark M-class solar flares, NOAA satellites reveal; Solar storm brewing?

NOAA has estimated a 40 percent chance of M-class solar flare eruptions today and tomorrow, despite the sunspot decaying. Can another solar storm strike the Earth this week?

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: May 31 2023, 12:01 IST
Think you know our Sun? Check out THESE 5 stunning facts
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1/5 The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and is a 4.5 billion-year-old star – a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of the solar system. It is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from Earth, and without its energy, life as we know it could not exist here on our home planet. (Pixabay)
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2/5 The Sun’s volume would need 1.3 million Earths to fill it. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris in orbit around it. The hottest part of the Sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The Sun’s activity, from its powerful eruptions to the steady stream of charged particles it sends out, influences the nature of space throughout the solar system. (NASA)
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3/5 According to NASA, measuring a “day” on the Sun is complicated because of the way it rotates. It doesn't spin as a single, solid ball. This is because the Sun’s surface isn't solid like Earth's. Instead, the Sun is made of super-hot, electrically charged gas called plasma. This plasma rotates at different speeds on different parts of the Sun. At its equator, the Sun completes one rotation in 25 Earth days. At its poles, the Sun rotates once on its axis every 36 Earth days. (NASA)
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4/5 Above the Sun’s surface are its thin chromosphere and the huge corona (crown). This is where we see features such as solar prominences, flares, and coronal mass ejections. The latter two are giant explosions of energy and particles that can reach Earth. (Pixabay)
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5/5 The Sun doesn’t have moons, but eight planets orbit it, at least five dwarf planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and perhaps three trillion comets and icy bodies. Also, several spacecraft are currently investigating the Sun including Parker Solar Probe, STEREO, Solar Orbiter, SOHO, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, IRIS, and Wind. (Pixabay)
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Know all about solar storm chances this week. (SDO/NASA)

The last ten days have been quite peaceful for the Earth. Solar activity has been at a minimum despite two active sunspots staring down at our planet. One of them, AR3315, is as large as 5 times the size of the Earth and was feared to explode producing an X-class solar flare. However, it did not and now the latest predictions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have revealed that much of the unstable magnetic field has decayed, and chances of an X-class flare no longer exist. However, there is still a 40 percent chance for an M-class flare eruption. Will it bring a powerful solar storm? Let us take a look.

As per a report by SpaceWeather.com, “Dangerous sunspot AR3315 became less dangerous today. Its magnetic field has decayed, losing the delta configuration that gave it potential energy for X-class solar flares. Lesser M-class flares are still possible, though, with NOAA estimating a 40%-chance of M-flares”.

Solar storm threat reduced but not removed

The threat of a solar storm has definitely reduced but as long as the sunspot glares in the Earth's view, it cannot be considered gone entirely. In case an M-class solar flare does erupt, it can still throw coronal mass ejection (CME) clouds which can later cause a geomagnetic storm.

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While these storms are generally not as intense as a G5-class geomagnetic storm, they can still reach G1 to G3 class. Such solar storms can damage smaller satellites, cause communication blackouts, disrupt mobile networks and internet connectivity and in rare cases can also cause power grid failures.

However, whether such a storm can be caused by a flare eruption today or tomorrow is something that needs to be seen.

NOAA's DSCOVR satellite's role in solar storm monitoring

NOAA monitors solar storms and Sun's behavior using its DSCOVR satellite which became operational in 2016. The recovered data is then run through the Space Weather Prediction Center and the final analysis is prepared. The different measurements are done on temperature, speed, density, degree of orientation, and frequency of the solar particles.

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First Published Date: 31 May, 11:59 IST
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