The Sun Has Erupted Non-Stop All Month, And There Are More Giant Flares Coming

The past few weeks have been busy for the Sun. Our star has 888-269-5556 888-269-5556 888-269-5556s that have been hurtling through space.

A powerful solar flare erupted from the far side of the Sun just before midnight on February 15. It is possible that the eruption was an X-class flare, which is the most powerful type of flare the Sun can produce.

The effects of a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when material from the eruption slams into Earth's atmosphere, are unlikely because the flare and CME were directed away from Earth.

These include power grid fluctuations and communications disruptions. The activity suggests that we may be in for a storm in the future.

Our Sun got angry for a moment yesterday just before midnight UTC. A prominence eruption (maybe combined with a powerful flare?) launched a massive CME into space. While not earth-directed, the eruption was huge and could signal there might be something interesting on its way... pic.twitter.com/z0fhjNp5mO

— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) February 16, 2022

This is the second farside active region of this size since September of last year, according to astronomer Junwei Zhao.

If this region remains huge as it rotates to the Earth-facing side of the Sun, it could give us some exciting flares.

According to SpaceWeatherLive, the Sun has erupted every day for the month of February, with some days featuring multiple flares. There are three M-class flares, an M1.4 on February 12; an M1 on February 14; and an M1.3 on February 15. There were five flares in January.

The M-class flare that took place on January 29 followed a mild geomagnetic storm that knocked 40 newly launched Starlink satellites from low-Earth orbit. Depending on how fast the material is moving, it can take a few days to reach Earth. The milder C-class category is where the remaining flares have been.

HOW ABOUT THAT CME??!!! 😳😱😍 pic.twitter.com/HyulxmGUfW

— Karl Battams (@SungrazerComets) February 16, 2022

This is normal for our Sun, as it ramps up its activity towards and during solar maximum, the most dynamic time during its activity cycle.

The Sun goes through an activity cycle of 11 years, with a clearly defined minimum and maximum. The Sun has a magnetic field that changes every 11 years with the north and south magnetic poles.

The solar minimum is characterized by a minimal level of sunspot and flare activity and occurs when the Sun's magnetic field is at its lowest point.

Sunspots are temporary regions of strong magnetic fields, while mass ejections from solar flares are produced by magnetic field lines snapping and reconnecting.

The solar minimum took place in December.

The two flares on 2022-02-12 were so spectacular I ended up making this animation, even though their west-limb locations preclude geoeffective potential.

In the second event, only the latter part was eruptive, from the southern region. The northern flare had no global effect. pic.twitter.com/R3BnuK3Syc

— Halo CME (@halocme) February 13, 2022

Sunspots form when the solar magnetic field becomes tangled. The solar equator spins faster than the higher latitudes. Not all of the sunspots on the Sun will be active.

The solar maximum is expected to take place in July. Scientists in 2020 found evidence that we might be entering the strongest cycle recorded, because we don't know what drives them, but it can be difficult to predict how active any given cycle is going to be.

It remains to be seen whether the rest of the cycle will continue in the same vein, but a banonkers Solar Cycle is definitely something we are here for. Here is hoping.

You can keep up-to-date with solar activity by following SpaceWeather, SpaceWeatherLive, and the NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.