Sun news for December 19, 2023: More beautiful auroras as storming comes to an end

Today’s top news: After another night of mesmerising auroral displays during a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm, action at Earth has finally calmed. This fantastic show came after a period of crazy activity on the sun. As the effects of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and fast solar wind fade, more action seems to be on the way; let’s see what our star next has in store for us.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low, but action seems to be picking up. With prominences adorning the limbs (edges) of our star, fresh sunspot groups seem to be just out of view. In fact, incoming sunspots have been observed with helioseismology over the horizon on the eastern limb, soon to rotate into view. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, 12 C flares were fired. The largest was a C7.4 flare, fired at 3:04 UTC on December 19 by sunspot group AR3528. This active region was the lead flare producer of the period with five Cs. AR3520 was close behind with four C flares. The sun currently has nine labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side, including three newcomers: AR3527 in the west, AR3528 close to the central meridian in the northeast, and AR3529 in the southeast.
Next 24 hours forecast: The forecast is a 99% chance for C flares, a 25% chance for M flares, and a 5% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME:  No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed in the available imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: Earth’s geomagnetic field is quiet at the time of this writing (11 UTC on December 19), but a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm was registered at 23:59 UTC, December 18. Unsettled conditions are expected during the rest of the day through tomorrow as the CMEs from December 14 to 15 start to wane, while we continue to experience the effects of fast solar wind from a coronal hole.

Sun news for December 18, 2023: Night #2 for great auroras!

Sun news for December 18, 2023. More auroras! Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd in the video above, for more.
It’s been two fabulous night of auroras! At the time of this writing (11 UTC on Monday, December 18), Earth is experiencing yet more geomagnetic storming, due to coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and high speed solar wind from a coronal hole. The storming is at G2 (moderate) levels at this time. Aurora reports were arguably fewer Sunday night (December 17-18) than Saturday night (December 16-17). But both nights were grand! And we might see auroral activity later today. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity due to flares is moderate with one M1.1 flares and 12 C flares observed. The largest event was an M1.1 flare from sunspot region AR3520 at 20:08 UTC December 17. AR3520 produced five flares including the M1.1. There is significant activity beyond the west limb (edge), most likely due to AR3514 acting up. Several eruptions are visible from this area in 304-angstrom light from SDO and GOES-16. The Earth-facing side of the sun currently has six active regions.

This is insane tonight
Aurora pulsating overhead ??? pic.twitter.com/iv9i7Ou0rh

— ?Angel Brise’ Alaska Adventurer? (@AngelBrise1) December 18, 2023

Another successful #aurorahunting tour last night here in #Yellowknife! Level 4.5 -23C windchill -31C! More Aurora dreams come true! Book now make your Aurora #dreamcometrue! #auroraborealis #northernlights #bestplacetoseeaurora #bucketlist #indigenousbusiness #livelife #lovelife pic.twitter.com/J0X5tRG3DV

— NorthStarAdventures (@NStarAdventures) December 18, 2023

Despite the weak, glancing blow of the CME, there was enough energy in its wake that pushed a relatively brief, but highly visible ?#Aurora substorm into mid-lat, on the horizon- Even as far south as Hartford in S Wisconsin and further! ? Of course the car headlight too! ? pic.twitter.com/3kIH8zsV1X

— Jake Stehli (@eljakeo30) December 18, 2023

Sun news for December 17, 2023: Auroras! And more coming …

Good morning! Here’s a little green to start your Sunday :) pic.twitter.com/bVsb0wYcnU

— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) December 17, 2023

We’ve got auroras! One or more of the anticipated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from December 14 and 15 may have reached Earth. At the time of this writing (11 UTC on Sunday, December 17), we are experiencing a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm and we are starting to see some aurora reports. The reports are mostly from Canada and Alaska. Over the next day we will wait to see if there are any signs of additional CME impacts and resulting geomagnetic storming and auroras. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity due to flares is low with 16 C-class flares observed. The largest event was a back-to-back set of flares from sunspot region AR3514, a C8.4 and C8.1 at 13:19 and 14:12 UTC respectively. AR3514 produced most of the flares at 14 of 16. It has almost completely rotated out of view over the west limb. It has decayed, losing its delta region, but this sunspot group still has the potential for some significant flaring. The Earth-facing side of the sun currently has nine active regions.

Another photo from late this morning. 7:45am in Kodiak, Alaska pic.twitter.com/ucqKPOCyMD

— Kris Luckenbach (@KrisLuckPhoto) December 18, 2023

More amazing #AuroraBorealis imagery from space overnight during yet another geomagnetic storm. This sun cycle rocks! https://t.co/N94utqlp7f pic.twitter.com/otomroBJa6

— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) December 17, 2023

We’re on!
202312170657
Northeast of Strathmore Alberta #Aurora #Auroraborealis #northernlights pic.twitter.com/yWaGfITCld

— Harlan Thomas (@theauroraguy) December 17, 2023

Woohoo! She’s dancing in Central Alberta now. #TeamTanner #Aurora @TamithaSkov @chunder10 @scottrockphoto @PeakToSailPhoto @hillsblockview pic.twitter.com/6ad856jUaC

— Dar Tanner (@dartanner) December 17, 2023

The aurora in Alaska went nuts tonight, wow! pic.twitter.com/1L5GSLvEqB

— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) December 17, 2023

Decent aurora potential now if you’re in Alaska or Siberia… Europe get ready for a potential mid-latitude aurora breakout, although we need to monitor activity over the next several hours. Nice substorm in GOES Mag, AE is healthy… pic.twitter.com/lPrBrtqrVR

— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) December 17, 2023

The sun in recent days

Sun images from our community

Are you a fan of sun news? We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. Naturally, we love receiving your photos! And to those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community page, thank you.

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Bottom line: Sun news December 19, 2023. Beautiful auroras were enjoyed for another night, as the recent flurry of geomagnetic activity finally came to a close.

The post Sun news: More beautiful auroras as storming comes to an end first appeared on EarthSky.

When the sun dies

What does death mean for the sun? It means our sun will run out of fuel in its interior. It’ll cease the internal thermonuclear reactions that enable stars to shine. It’ll swell into a red giant, whose outer layers will engulf Mercury and Venus and likely reach the Earth. Life on Earth will end.

If the sun were more massive – estimates vary, but at least several times more massive – it would explode as a supernova. So … no supernova. But what? What happens next? An international team of astronomers used a stellar data-model that predicts the life cycle of stars to answer this question.

Their research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy and is available to read at arXiv.org. It suggested that the sun is almost exactly the lowest mass star that – at the end of its life – produces a visible, though faint, planetary nebula.

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

About planetary nebulae

The name planetary nebula has nothing to do with planets. It describes a massive sphere of luminous gas and dust, material sloughed off an aging star. In the 1780s, William Herschel called these spherical clouds planetary nebulae because, through his early telescope, planetary nebulae looked round, like the planets in our solar system.

Astronomers already knew that 90% of all stars end their active lives as planetary nebulae. They were reasonably sure our sun would meet this fate. The key word here is visible. For years, scientists thought the sun has too low mass to create a visible planetary nebula.

Albert Zijlstra of the University of Manchester in England is a co-author of the study. He said in a statement:

When a star dies it ejects a mass of gas and dust – known as its envelope – into space. The envelope can be as much as half the star’s mass. This reveals the star’s core, which by this point in the star’s life is running out of fuel, eventually turning off and before finally dying.

It is only then the hot core makes the ejected envelope shine brightly for around 10,000 years – a brief period in astronomy. This is what makes the planetary nebula visible. Some are so bright that they can be seen from extremely large distances measuring tens of millions of light-years, where the star itself would have been much too faint to see.

The fate of our sun

Will that be the fate of our sun? Will it – at the end of its life – become briefly visible to alien astronomers on planets millions of light-years away? These astronomers say no. They say their models predict that our sun – though forming a planetary nebula at the end of its life – will remain faint.

Read more about this study from the University of Manchester

By the way … what happens next? Eventually, the planetary nebula will disperse and fade. With its thermonuclear fuel gone, the sun will no longer be able to shine. The immensely high pressures and temperatures in its interior will slacken. The sun will shrink down to become a dying ember of a star, known as a white dwarf, only a little larger than Earth.

Bottom line: A study suggests our sun is about the lowest mass star that – at the end of its life – produces a visible, though faint, planetary nebula. What that is … and more on the fate of our sun, here.

Source: The mysterious cut-off of the Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function

Via University of Manchester

The post When our sun dies, what will happen to Earth? first appeared on EarthSky.

Ofer Cohen, UMass Lowell

The Earth’s magnetic field plays a big role in protecting people from hazardous radiation and geomagnetic activity that could affect satellite communication and the operation of power grids. And the magnetic field moves and flips.

Scientists have studied and tracked the motion of the magnetic poles for centuries. The historical movement of these poles indicates a change in the global geometry of Earth’s magnetic field. It may even indicate the beginning of a field reversal – a flip – between the north and south magnetic poles.

I’m a physicist who studies the interaction between the planets and space. While the north magnetic pole moving a little bit isn’t a big deal, a reversal could have a big impact on Earth’s climate and our modern technology. But these reversals don’t happen instantaneously. Instead, they occur over thousands of years.

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Magnetic field generation

So how are magnetic fields like the one around Earth generated?

Moving electric charges are what generate magnetic fields. A material that enables charges to move easily in it is called a conductor. Metal is one example of a conductor; people use it to transfer electric currents from one place to the other. The electric current itself is simply negative charges called electrons moving through the metal. This current generates a magnetic field.

The Earth’s liquid iron core has layers of conducting material. Currents of charges move throughout the core. And the liquid iron is also moving and circulating in the core. These movements generate the magnetic field.

Irregularities in a magnetic field

Earth isn’t the only planet with a magnetic field; gas giant planets like Jupiter have a conducting metallic hydrogen layer that generates their magnetic fields.

The movement of these conducting layers inside planets results in two types of fields. Larger motions, such as large-scale rotations with the planet, lead to a symmetric magnetic field with a north and a south pole … similar to a toy magnet.

These conducting layers may have some local irregular motions due to local turbulence or smaller flows that do not follow the large-scale pattern. These irregularities will manifest in some small anomalies in the planet’s magnetic field or places where the field deviates from being a perfect dipole field.

These small-scale deviations in the magnetic field can actually lead to changes in the large-scale field over time. And they can potentially cause a complete reversal of the polarity of the dipole field, where the north becomes south and vice versa. The designations of “north” and “south” on the magnetic field refer to their opposite polarities; they’re not related to geographic north and south.

The Earth’s magnetosphere, a protective bubble

The Earth’s magnetic field creates a magnetic “bubble” called the magnetosphere above the uppermost part of the atmosphere, the ionosphere layer.

The magnetosphere plays a major role in protecting people. It shields and deflects damaging, high-energy, cosmic-ray radiation, which is created in star explosions and moves constantly through the universe. The magnetosphere also interacts with solar wind, which is a flow of magnetized gas from the sun.

The magnetosphere and ionosphere’s interaction with magnetized solar wind creates what scientists call space weather. Usually, the solar wind is mild and there’s little to no space weather.

However, there are times when the sun sheds large magnetized clouds of gas – or coronal mass ejections – into space. If these coronal mass ejections make it to Earth, their interaction with the magnetosphere can generate geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms can create auroras, which happen when a stream of energized particles hits the atmosphere and lights up.

During space weather events, there’s more hazardous radiation near Earth. This radiation can potentially harm satellites and astronauts. Space weather can also damage large conducting systems, such as major pipelines and power grids, by overloading currents in these systems.

Space weather events can also disrupt satellite communication and GPS operation, which many people rely on.

Field flips

Scientists map and track the overall shape and orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field using local measurements of the field’s orientation and magnitude and, more recently, models.

The location of the north magnetic pole has moved by about 600 miles (965 km) since it was first measured in 1831. The migration speed has increased from 10 miles per year to 34 miles per year (16 km to 54 km) in more recent years. This acceleration could indicate the beginning of a field reversal, but scientists really can’t tell with less than 200 years of data.

The Earth’s magnetic field reverses on time scales that vary between 100,000 to 1,000,000 years. Scientists can tell how often the magnetic field reverses by looking at volcanic rocks in the ocean.

These rocks capture the orientation and strength of the Earth’s magnetic field when they are created. So dating these rocks provides a good picture of how the Earth’s field has evolved over time.

Field reversals happen fast from a geologic standpoint, though slow from a human perspective. A reversal usually takes a few thousand years. But during this time, the magnetosphere’s orientation may shift and expose more of the Earth to cosmic radiation. These events may change the concentration of ozone in the atmosphere.

Scientists can’t tell with confidence when the next field reversal will happen, but we can keep mapping and tracking the movement of Earth’s magnetic north.

Ofer Cohen, Associate Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, UMass Lowell

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Earth’s magnetic field helps protect life on Earth. But the magnetic poles wander, and they flip polarity every 100,000 to 1,000,000 years.

The post Earth’s magnetic field shields us. But it can move and flip first appeared on EarthSky.

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Auroras incoming late tonight and tomorrow night! Four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are currently headed toward Earth. These blobs of solar plasma and magnetic fields are expected to reach us late today into tomorrow. The first one (late today) will give the south of Earth a glancing blow. And then comes the big punch. Three CMEs should reach us early tomorrow, December 1. In fact – on its journey through space – a large CME that left the sun on November 28 will overtake the two events from the previous day, creating a complicated mass of sun-stuff known as a cannibal CME. Sound scary? Not at all. And it’s going to bring some beautiful auroral displays to northern latitudes! Forecasters are predicting up to a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm, with auroras that could even be somewhat visible on the horizon to those at latitudes like those in the northern U.S. Good luck, aurora chasers!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low, with 14 C flares produced between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest was a C3.8 flare from sunspot group AR3500 at 14:35 UTC on November 29. This region has remained active after Tuesday’s almost-X flare, firing more flares than any other sunspot group (six out of the 14) as well as producing jets all day. It has kept its beta-gamma magnetic complexity, so the possibility of large M flares remains. It is the largest and most complex of the ten active regions currently on the Earth-viewed side of our sun.

Sun activity for November 29, 2023: Almost-X flare! Auroras incoming

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Bam! The sun almost reached X flare levels with an M9.8 released at 19:50 UTC on November 28. An X flare is the strongest category of solar flare. This almost-X came from sunspot region AR3500 near the center of the sun’s disk. It sent a CME (coronal mass ejection) straight toward Earth. Space weather forecasters at NOAA predict this blob of sun-stuff will reach Earth on November 30. This CME is traveling to us behind another CME – released from the sun on November 27 – which is expected to reach us on late November 29. Together, these two solar blasts may provoke G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storms at Earth. That means substantial auroras will be visible at higher latitudes. Fingers crossed for clear skies!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity has risen to high after the production of the M9.8 flare. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun released two M flares and six Cs. The M9.8 came shortly after an M3.4 at 19:13 UTC, November 28. Both flares came from AR3500, and both produced radio blackouts off the west coast of South America. The M3.4’s blackout was rated at R1 (minor), while the almost-X flare produced an R2 (moderate) blackout. AR3500 continues to show a beta-gamma magnetic complexity. The sun currently has ten active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 28, 2023: More sun-stuff headed toward Earth

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

The sun is at it again! We saw a huge eruption on the sun yesterday, and it’s headed our way. In fact, the last 24 hours was full of action, with a huge solar burp in the northeast at around 18:24 UTC yesterday, followed by another one slightly further northeast at around 22:23 UTC. And if those two weren’t enough, another blast came from an area not yet in view, just over the northeast limb (edge). The first two more than likely were directed toward Earth, while the third one will probably pass us by. As with the previous day’s eruption, if these coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are heading toward Earth, this could mean geomagnetic storms. And when Earth’s magnetic field gets disturbed, that means more auroras! Keep an eye out over the next few days.
Last 24 hours: With eight C flares produced by the sun during the past day, sun activity is currently deemed to be low. The largest flare was a C6.7 from AR3500 at 18:52 UTC on November 27. The lead flare producer of the period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today) is an unnumbered active region coming into view on the northeast limb, which fired two of the eight blasts. The sun currently has 10 active regions on its Earth-facing side. Sunspot group AR3500’s magnetic complexity reduced to a less-potent beta-gamma configuration, the same as AR3499. The rest of the active regions show simple alpha and beta configurations.

Sun activity for November 27, 2023: Watch sun-stuff blast into space

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

It is a low sun activity day, but nobody told our star that. It released a huge rope of plasma and magnetic fields, a filament, off into space, possibly heading our way. We await further analysis for confirmation of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME). If this CME is heading toward Earth, this could mean disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field – aka geomagnetic storms – and that would mean more auroras. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity has dropped again over the past 24 hours, with six C flares over the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). The largest was a C2.7 from AR3500 at 12:52 UTC on November 26. The sun still has an impressive number of active regions – 12 in all – but most stayed the same or decayed some. Region AR3500 has maintained its beta-gamma-delta configuration, but its size and flare activity are small. AR3499 has developed a beta-gamma configuration, showing some increase in magnetic complexity.

Sun activity for November 26, 2023: Amazing auroras last night

Today’s top news: Yesterday saw continued disturbance to Earth’s magnetic field after the arrival of one or more CMEs (coronal mass ejections, or burps of material from the sun). Geomagnetic storming even briefly reached G2 (moderate) levels. That was around 21 UTC on November 25. The blast from the sun produced some amazing auroral displays at higher latitudes such as Alaska, Canada, and northern Europe.
Last 24 hours: As auroral action at Earth continued, the sun started to wake up a bit from its (relative) slumber. It produced 14 C flares over the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). The largest was a C4.4 from the newest region, AR3503, at 13:16 UTC on November 25. The sun still has an impressive number of active regions – 12 in all – but most stayed the same or decayed some. Region AR3500 has maintained its beta-gamma-delta configuration, but its size and flare activity are small.

Sun activity for November 25, 2023: CME(s) hit Earth this morning

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

A CME is here. It’s a great burp of material and magnetic fields from the sun. Scientists detected its impact earlier today, at 8:35 UTC. The result is a minor disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field – a G1 geomagnetic storm – which began at 8:59 UTC today and which should be causing auroral displays now. By tonight, the auroras might extend into latitudes like those in the northern U.S. Aurora alert! Multiple CMEs left the sun on November 22, and this impact is due to one or more of these events. Auroras will be possible tonight for latitudes as far south as North Dakota and Montana in the U.S. This increase in geomagnetic activity should continue through today, with possibly more storming through tomorrow.
Last 24 hours: While the auroral excitement continues at Earth, it seems the sun hit the snooze button. Sun activity due to flares has decreased to low levels within the past 24 hours (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). The observation period only saw four C flares despite a sun covered with a plethora of 11 active regions. A couple of them show delta magnetic complexity, which could bring M or even X flares. The largest flare of the past day was a C5.6, from active region AR3495. It occurred at 22:19 UTC on November 24. This same active region, AR3495, is the lead flare producer of the day with two C class flares. The sun is also covered with filaments on the solar disk, which have the potential for eruptions and, thus, more CMEs. The sun has 11 labeled active regions on the Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 24, 2023, is on the rise across the board

Sun activity is increasing significantly. Over the past day we saw not only more flares than the previous day, but more M flares, too. These flares were joined by several more filament eruptions and coronal mass ejections. And while the size of individual sunspots on the Earth-facing disk is not remarkable, the number of sunspot regions is; we can currently see 13 of them, an increase of three from yesterday’s total. And sunspot region complexity is increasing, too. Three of the 13 active regions now have a delta complexity, which indicates a good possibility of producing intense flares. In fact, AR3500 has a beta-gamma-delta region – the most complex magnetic configuration – so perhaps we’ll see large M or even X flares from this sunspot group. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: A couple of M flares have kept sun activity at moderate. On top of those, we observed 18 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The two M1.1 flares occurred at 14:37 UTC on November 23 and 9:33 UTC on November 24, blasted by AR3490 in the northeast and AR3499 in the southwest, respectively. They caused R1 (minor) radio blackouts over South America off the east coast of Brazil and over the Mozambique Channel in South Africa. AR3492’s five C flares made it the most active region. AR3490 and AR3502 are the two regions with delta configurations, while AR3500 has a beta-gamma-delta configuration. The three new sunspot regions are AR3499, AR3500 and AR3501.

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Sun activity for November 23, 2023: M flare outshone by a volley of eruptions

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

An M1.5 flare has brought activity up to moderate, but its limelight has been stolen by three fast filament eruptions in the northeast. First, a large filament – that is, a rope of solar material and magnetic fields – exploded from just over the northeast limb at 2:14 UTC this morning. Then another filament from over the northeast limb erupted at 5:29 UTC, followed by another at 6:59 UTC. These eruptions appear to be coming from an energetic region that has not quite yet rotated into view. While the M1.5 flare technically produced more light emission than the eruptions, the notable brightening of the filaments stole our attention away from the flare. The three eruptions produced coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that were visible in the SOHO spacecraft’s LASCO C2 instrument. These are all under analysis to determine if any are coming Earth’s way.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate after an isolated M flare. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun produced ten flares: one M and nine Cs. The largest, the M1.5 flare, came from sunspot group AR3494 in the southeast at 3:38 UTC on November 23. Shortly after this flare, an R1 (minor) radio blackout was registered affecting an area over off the northwest coast of Australia. The most active region of the period was AR3492 in the northeast with five C flares. There are currently nine numbered active regions on the Earth-viewed side of our star. Two of them, AR3490 and AR3492, are showing a beta-gamma configuration. The rest remain stable with alpha or beta configurations.

Sun activity for November 22, 2023: Earth is blowin’ in the solar wind

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Auroras on the way tonight! Fast solar wind is now buffeting Earth, and our geomagnetic field has been disturbed enough to cause a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm. This threshold was reached at 5:50 UTC this morning, and the storm is continuing at the time of this writing. Did you catch the auroras this morning? If not, don’t worry; conditions for auroras should persist through today and tonight. That includes the chance for those in northern US states to see auroras on the horizon – that’s what’s indicated by the thin red line on the chart above. Get your cameras ready for possible auroras tonight, and be sure to share your beautiful photos with us.
Last 24 hours: Although the sun is peppered with sunspots, sun activity remains low today with only C flares. From 11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today we saw 14 C flares, the largest being a C8.9 from sunspot group AR3492 at 6:28 UTC on November 22. This group remains the most active region, producing nine flares. AR3489 lost its delta region and is now only a beta region. AR3494 kept its beta-gamma configuration. Although flaring is low, filaments and prominences continue to dazzle us. A prominence hanging out near the southern limb gave us a great eruption, firing out a coronal mass ejection (CME) that is probably not Earth-bound. The sun currently has nine labeled active regions. The newest of these is AR3498 in the southwest.

Sun activity for November 21, 2023: Sun-sational action ahead?!

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

As we’ve been reporting, the sun has been nearly spot-free these past few days. There were only three sunspot groups early yesterday. Then suddenly – bang – there were nine. It was a lot of fun to watch! The most notable part of this sudden explosion of sunspots came from AR3490, which the sun’s rotation has now carried further into view on the Earth-facing side of our star. As we watched, this region suddenly split into multiple sunspot groups. What does this new archipelago of sunspots mean? It might mean some big flares. There might be M and possibly even X flares in the coming days. The new regions aren’t particularly large. But some now have a promising level of magnetic complexity, often a sign of potentially large flares on the horizon. For example, sunspot region AR3489 has a beta-delta configuration. The delta classification indicates a mixture of magnetic polarities within a single sunspot. And that’s a recipe for some sun-sational action. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Despite the potential activity we just mentioned, sun activity over the past day has been low. We saw only C flares, 16 in all from 11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today. The largest was a C8.0 flare from sunspot region AR3492 in the northeast quadrant at 12:31 UTC on November 20, 2023. This group has an interesting beta-gamma configuration. And it was the lead flare producer of the past day with 12 of the 16 flares.  The sun has nine labeled active regions on the Earth-facing solar disk. There are six newcomers today: AR3492, AR3495, AR3496 and AR3497 on the northeast quadrant and AR3493 and AR3494 on the southeast limb (edge).

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Solar max is coming

A coronal mass ejection (CME) was expected to strike Earth late yesterday. But it hasn’t made it to Earth yet. Meanwhile, forecasters still believe it will impact our planet and bring an auroral display to high latitudes. As we wait for it, the sun continues to entertain us with a festival of filaments. They take the form of the long plasma ropes across the sun that can be more than 400,000 miles (700,000 km) long, or even longer. We also see some sitting, or dancing, on the sun’s limb (edge); in that case, we call them prominences. And two can be seen erupting from behind the sun’s limb, in the northeast quadrant, and then the northwest. It’s quite a show. And it’s a bit mind-blowing to know that each one of these filaments is made up of billions of tons of solar material. That sounds like a lot, but it’s only a tiny fraction of the mass of the sun. Our star contains a billion billion billion tons of material!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now moderate, with the production of an M1.2 flare from sunspot region AR3490. It happened at 8:54 UT today (November 20). The M flare produced an R1 radio blackout over Africa and the Indian Ocean. The sun produced 16 flares over the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). Five of the flares came from AR3489, and five from AR3490. The sun has three labeled active regions on the Earth-facing solar disk.

Sun activity for November 19, 2023: Fun filaments and CMEs galore!

Today’s top news: It’s a day of flying filaments. Looking along the limb (edge) of the Earth-facing sun, we see numerous eruptions, small and large, front-sided and back-sided. It makes for quite a show. With the SOHO C2 and C3 coronagraphs, we can follow the eruptions further into space. These red, fire-like structures change into coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are great wispy clouds of solar particles and magnetic fields. All of the events from the past day look to be heading away from Earth. But further analysis will provide more certainty about that. And, meanwhile, there are several large filaments on the solar disk. Two of these giant plasma ropes are at least 700,000 km (430,000 mi) long. If one of them should erupt, an Earth-directed CME is highly likely.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate with the production of two M flares. The newly numbered active region we spoke about yesterday has now rotated full into view, receving the sunspot number AR3490. And, sure enough – as we thought it might – it produced these M flares. The first was an M1.1, occurring at 16:34 UTC on November 18. And the second was an M1.0, occurring at 22:26 UTC on November 18. The region produced 10 of the 19 flares of the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). The M flares each produced an R1 radio blackout over South America and the Pacific, respectively. The sun now has three labeled active regions on the Earth-facing solar disk, in contrast to just two yesterday.

Sun activity for November 18, 2023: A new active region appears

A new active region has begun to rotate into view on the Earth-facing side of the sun. It’s already brought sun activity up to moderate levels, thanks to an M1.2 flare. This as-yet-unnumbered region promises to kick things up a notch. Helioseismology also shows another region on the far side, not too far behind. Currently, the sun has two labeled active regions. That should soon change. But wait, there’s more! Filaments – lots of filaments – cover the sun, and two have lifted off. The first is from the northeast limb (edge) near the north pole. This produced a nice prominence and sent a coronal mass ejection (CME) headed northward, probably away from Earth. The second eruption is a bit more subtle but still visible. This was a filament on the disk, just to the east of region AR3489. This may have a somewhat Earthward component, but that is not clear at the moment. The new region along with AR3489 and AR3486 have all been prolific jet producers. We also have a CME on the way to look forward to on November 19. It brings the possibility of auroras, so stay tuned.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate with the production of an isolated M1.2 flare at 5:42 UTC on November 18, 2023. This is from the new, as-yet-unnumbered region on the northeast limb. This M flare caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout, which affected an area over the South Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. This makes a total of seven flares (including six Cs) between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The new region on the northeast produced five of today’s seven flares. The sun has two labeled active regions on its Earth facing side. One of these is a newcomer on the southeast limb (edge), AR3489.

 

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Sun activity for November 17, 2023: Here comes a blast from the sun

Yesterday, a filament – a rope of solar material and magnetic fields – erupted, firing plasma into space as a coronal mass ejection (CME). And now, analysis from NOAA space weather forecasters has found that this partial halo CME was in the sun-Earth line – in other words, this bubble of superheated plasma is on a course for Earth. The estimated time of arrival is late November 19, and space weather forecasters are predicting a possible G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm as a result of its impact. That could mean auroras! Get ready, aurora watchers.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low, with just four C flares and one B observed between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest flare was a C4.9 at 20:22 UTC on November 16. It came from an active region in the southeast that has not yet been labeled. This unnumbered sunspot was the only flare producer of the period. The sun has two labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side – one of the lowest sunspot numbers of the year. However, the lack of sunspots and flares hasn’t stopped the filament fun. Enjoy today’s imagery of a filament channel activation (an active flow of plasma along a filament), which followed an S-shaped path between two active regions. And at the north pole, a stable filament danced as a prominence off the solar limb (edge).

?? ? Sun activity for Nov 17, 2023: Here comes the sun or at least a piece of it. Yesterday’s CME should bring geomagnetic storms Nov 19. Filaments activate as a prominence dances over the North Pole.

? ? More at EarthSky: https://t.co/xD29wLfm4e #sunfun pic.twitter.com/7DVGH1hRKL

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) November 17, 2023

Sun activity for November 16, 2023: Far side action could head our way

A huge filament eruption formed a beautiful prominence this morning – see the rope of solar material and magnetic fields soar out over the southwest limb (edge) in the animation above. And at 8 UTC yesterday, the SOHO spacecraft’s LASCO C3 instrument observed a huge partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) erupting from the north. In both cases, the lack of an associated event on the Earth-facing side of the sun means that they must have come from its far side. This is supported by the observations of helioseismologists, who have measured sound waves emitted from inside the sun to detect large sunspots on sun’s reverse. As the sun is constantly rotating, these regions should be coming into view from Earth over the next four or five days. Stay tuned to see if they survive the trip and bring the party to our side!
Last 24 hours: Although you might not think it looking around the solar horizon, sun activity is back to low. We observed only 11 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest flare was a C7.7, fired at 12:12 UTC on November 15 by sunspot group AR3485, one of yesterday’s top flare producers. The top producer today is AR3484, which fired four flares. The sun currently has three numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 15, 2023: Big flare day

Whoa! A big increase in flaring! The sun produced 29 flares over the past 24 hours, in contrast to to 19 the day before. It’s a sizable jump, especially considering that last week’s sun averaged just 5 flares a day. Elsewhere on the sun, one of the prominences (ropes of solar material and magnetic fields) that we saw yesterday on the sun’s southwest limb (edge) lifted off into space as a billion-ton blob of plasma. This coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading away from Earth. But another CME is on its way toward us. That earlier CME left the sun on November 10 and is expected to give Earth a glancing blow later today. This could cause auroras, so keep an eye out.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now considered moderate (in contrast to yesterday’s low), not because of the number of flares, but because one of them was an M1.1 flare. The M came from yesterday’s plasma jet producer, AR3485. It blasted off the sun at 23:05 UTC on November 14. And it caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout over French Polynesia. So the sun produced 29 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, up from 19 the previous day. All were C flares, apart from the M1.1. The lead flare producer mantle is today shared by three active regions: AR3485, AR3483 and AR3477. The sun currently has five numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side, including new sunspot group AR3488, which emerged on the northeast limb (edge).

Sun activity for November 14, 2023. See a solar jet blast sun-stuff into space

Today’s top news: Over the past day, we saw beautiful active filaments all over the Earth-facing sun. And early this morning, we saw the solar jet in the image above, extending from the sun’s outer atmosphere. This jet isn’t made of ordinary matter. It’s a collimated, beam-like ejection of what’s called plasma, a 4th state of matter, consisting of elementary particles and magnetic fields from our blazingly hot star. It’s this solar plasma that interacts with the larger environment of our solar system to give us space weather, and ultimately auroras. Sunspot group AR3485 produced this solar jet. This sunspot region is now getting closer to the sun’s southwestern limb (edge). Soon, it’ll rotate out of sight. So enjoy its activity while you can. By the way, thanks to everyone who shared aurora photos at EarthSky Community Photos this week. Auroral activity has been grand for some days now. Earth’s magnetic field is quiet now, but don’t put your cameras away just yet, as more auroras might be visible tomorrow. Read more below.
Last 24 hours: The sun produced 19 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, an increase from 12 flares in the previous 24-hour period. All 19 were C class flares. So activity is currently considered low. The largest event was a C2.9 flare from sunspot region AR3477 in the southwest. It was produced at 20:50 UTC on November 13. The lead flare producer was AR3485 with eight Cs, closely followed by active region AR3484 with seven. The sun currently has five numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side. A new sunspot group, AR3487, emerged in the southwest.

Sun activity for November 13, 2023. Auroras last night, and a photobomb

Earth’s moon just photobombed our cameras aimed at the sun. Our natural satellite moved across the sun from the perspective of the NOAA GOES spacecraft, which captured the photobomb via its SUVI extreme ultraviolet telescope. See the image below. Meanwhile, the great burp of solar material that gave Earth a glancing blow yesterday – called a coronal mass ejection (CME) – was still enough to set off a fine aurora night last night across Earth’s higher latitudes. We might see some more today from lingering CME effects and from high speed solar wind that originated from a coronal hole. Either way, aurora-watchers, stay tuned to the sky!
Last 24 hours: In terms of flaring, sun activity is low. The sun produced 12 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest was a C2.2 from active region AR3484 at 01:40 UTC on November 13. AR3484 remained the most active region with 9 flares including the C2.2 flare. The sun currently has four numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 12, 2023, is moderate. Aurora alert!

Today’s top news: Sun activity has kicked up to moderate, thanks to an M1.2 flare from AR3477. And activity at Earth has picked up, due to the expected arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) earlier today (around 6 UTC today on November 12). A glancing blow by this CME has energized Earth’s magnetic field to active levels with the possibility of G1 through G3 (minor to strong) storming today. And that means auroras! Clear skies and good luck to all aurora-watchers. Please share your photos in our community page. Stay tuned for more updates.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate. The sun produced 21 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest was an M1.2 from active region AR3477 at 17:01 UTC on November 11. AR3477 remained the most active region with 7 flares including the M flare. The sun currently has six numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity November 11, 2023: Flares are increasing. CME arrives tonight

Flare production increased over the last 24 hours, with up to 20 C flares in the past day. All the action is on the western portion of the sun, in both the north and south quadrants. In particular, the northwestern region produced a fiery filament explosion in the vicinity of sunspot AR3481. It occurred at 7 UTC on November 11, 2023. The blast sent ejecta into space. Shortly before, active region AR3483 – also in the northwest – exploded the largest flare of the day, a C7.2 flare at 3:59 UTC. Turning our eyes back to Earth, we expect a CME arrival and possible auroras late today into early Sunday. It comes after the full halo event yesterday that hurled a giant burp of solar material into space. G1-G2 (minor-moderate) geomagnetic storming is expected. So there’s more excitement coming. Aurora watchers, we’re wishing clear skies for you! Share your beautiful photos with us.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is still considered low. But production has increased significantly during the past day. The sun produced 20 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today; a big increase compared to the approximately five flares a day it has been blasting out in recent days. The largest was a C7.2 flare blasted by active region AR3483 at 3:59 UTC on November 11. This increase in flaring activity is thanks to AR3477 in the southwest, which produced 11 C flares, followed by AR3483, which blasted seven Cs, including the largest of the day. The sun currently has five numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side. They’re all located in the west hemisphere, north and south. There is a newcomer today, now named AR3485, in the southwest solar quadrant.

Sun activity November 10, 2023: CME coming straight to us!

After Sunday night’s fabulous auroral display – and with solar max on the horizon (due mid-decade), we’re all wondering, when will we next see auroras? And the answer might be … soon. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is on its way to Earth! Yesterday at 11:15 UTC we saw the explosion of a solar filament (a long rope of magnetic fields and solar material). The eruption blasted some of the material into space as a coronal mass ejection (CME), a great burp of solar material to space. Since the CME was fired directly towards Earth, the SOHO spacecraft saw a ring of solar material that seemed to expand out from the sun – a phenomenon known as a full halo event. Check out the imagery above! Specialists estimate the CME will reach Earth by tomorrow afternoon, likely bringing G1 (minor) or G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storms. Get ready for more auroras!
Last 24 hours: Despite the CME excitement, sun activity is still low. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun produced five C flares and two B flares – an increase of one B flare from yesterday’s levels. The CME-producing filament eruption occurred in the vicinity of sunspot AR3480, and has been associated with a C2.6 flare from this active region. Fired at 11:18 UTC on November 9, this was the largest flare of the past day. With two total flares, this region shares today’s lead flare producer title with AR3479. The sun currently has seven numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side. AR3483 has lost its beta-gamma magnetic complexity, bringing it in line with the rest of the visible sunspots, which all have simpler beta configurations.

Sun activity November 9, 2023: Dancing prominences, plus jets and filaments

Although sun activity is classed as low, we’ve been seeing faint flares and jets all around the solar disk over the past day, as well as a long-lasting prominence on the north pole. It’s been dancing mesmerizingly all day long right on the horizon – we’ve found it hard to stop watching! Elsewhere, sunspot region AR3483 has been growing since its arrival yesterday, and has kept up its explosive activity. It has now developed a beta-gamma magnetic complexity, meaning that it has good potential to produce intense solar flares. And it’s the only sunspot that has this configuration currently; the rest of the labeled regions have much simpler beta or even alpha configurations.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity remains low, and flaring production has dropped since yesterday. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun produced five C flares and one B flare. The largest was a C4.2 by active region AR3483, fired at 20:13 UTC on November 8. This region was actually the only flare producer of the period, blasting all six flares. AR3477 remains the largest sunspot, but kept relatively quiet. The sun today has six numbered active regions on its Earth-viewed side. One is a newcomer: AR3484 on the southwest quadrant.

Sun activity November 8, 2023: After the storm, a calm…but wait!

After the geomagnetic storms and beautiful auroral displays of the past few days, the sun seems to be having a moment of calm. But wait! A violent eruption occurred just at the time of this writing! The event produced a beautiful prominence on the northwest limb (edge). The event was in the vicinity of sunspot group AR3479, which has been particularly explosive today. The eruption fired solar material into space as a coronal mass ejection (CME), but AR3479’s position on the sun means that the CME doesn’t seem to heading toward Earth. Nevertheless, we’ll wait and see what the specialists conclude from their modeling.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity remains low today, but flaring production has increased. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun produced 16 C flares. Sunspot group AR3479, blasted at around  7 UTC on November  8 an explosion that produced a gorgeous prominence in the northwest. The largest flare of the past day was a  C6.9 flare by AR3483 who was also the lead flare producer of the period, firing ten of the day’s 16 C flares. The blast occurred at at 8:48 UTC on November 8. Sunspot AR3480 has lost its gamma configuration, lowering its potential for big flares, while AR3477 continues to be the largest sunspot. Currently the sun bears five labeled active regions, all of which are stable or in decay. There is a newcomer located at the very center of the solar disc, labeled AR3483. Also, the large coronal hole we’ve been monitoring is now moving out of its geoeffective position, meaning we will stop receiving the fast solar wind that helped cause the recent auroras.

Sun activity November 7, 2023: What a week for auroras. More coming?

After the beautiful auroral displays of Sunday night, last night was calmer. But Earth’s magnetic field remains stormy. Another threshold for yet more G1 (minor) geomagnetic storming was observed at 2:30 UTC this morning. This big week for auroras has been the result of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – great blobs of material from the sun – striking Earth on November 5. The CMEs combined with incoming fast solar wind from a coronal hole to add up to auroras! Thank you for your beautiful photos. Keep ’em coming! Submit to EarthSky Community Photos here.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low today, but a gorgeous prominence formed an arch on the northeast limb (edge) at around 14 UTC yesterday. Plasma can be seen forming an almost closed loop before dissipating as the ejecta returned back to the sun. Eight C flares were produced between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the largest being a C3.6 flare from sunspot region AR3474 at 14:02 UTC on November 6. The leading flare producer was AR3472, which produced three of the eight flares. The sun currently has five numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity November 6, 2023: Aurora, Aurora, Aurora!

What a night Sunday night was for auroras! Thanks to 24+ hours of geomagnetic storms, those at high and even mid-latitudes were witness to some amazing auroral displays. We are sharing a bunch of Twitter (X) posts below. But this is just a small sampling. The storming came about thanks to multiple coronal mass ejection (CME) impacts over the past two days. There were at least two impacts, and possibly three or more. None of these were particularly spectacular individually (though one is super interesting, because it was due to a filament eruption). But, combined, they’ve really gotten Earth’s magnetic field worked up! So much so that we reached G3 (strong) storming levels late yesterday (November 5). And the storming isn’t over yet. But it should start to settled down a little over today as the CMEs’ influence wanes. But CMEs aren’t the only influence on Earth’s magnetic field. A coronal hole on the sun is also sending its fast solar wind our way. That’s why we expect geomagnetic storming levels – and subsequent auroral displays – to stay active over the next couple of days.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity has picked up to moderate levels thanks to two small brief (impulsive) M flares from AR3480. Overall, the sun produced two M flares and 15 C flares from 11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today. The largest was an M1.8 flare from AR3480 at 11:34 UTC on November 5, 2023. The other M flare was an M1.7 from AR3480 at 14:24 UTC on November 5. Both events produced an R1 radio blackout over the sun-facing area of Earth. AR3480 produced eight of the 15 flares including the two M flares. The sun has seven numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 5, 2023: The CME is here

Today’s top news: Yesterday we said the coronal mass ejection (CME) from the filament eruption on November 3 might reach Earth today. And so it has. A CME is an enormous bubble of superheated gas – called plasma – ejected from the sun. CMEs can leave the sun every day when the sun is most active (and we’re near the peak of Solar Cycle 25 now). But the CMEs aren’t always aimed Earth’s way. This one was, though. Our instruments recorded its arrival in the form of a sudden change in the geomagnetic field – what solar physicists call a sudden jerk or impulse – at 9:05 UTC November 5. We can see this in the solar wind data as a sudden increase in magnetic field, solar wind speed and solar wind density (see the chart below). It’s basically the front part of the CME slamming into the planet. Earth’s magnetic field has reached G1 (minor) storming levels. G2 (moderate) and possibly G3 (strong) levels are expected to follow. This is great for aurora watchers! If you’re at a high latitude – maybe northwestern Canada or Alaska – and it’s still before sunrise on November 5 as you read this, you might start your day with a great show in the sky!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low. During the past day (between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today), the sun produced three C flares. The largest was a C1.8 flare from sunspot AR3472 at 13:46 UTC on November 4, 2023. The sun has seven numbered active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for November 4, 2023, The 20th anniversary of the largest solar flare

Today is the 20th anniversary of the largest solar flare of the space age. Between October 19 and November 5, 2003 – during the waning part of sunspot Cycle 23 – a set of three surprisingly large sunspot regions emerged on the Earth-facing disk. They came into view after a period of relative calm on the sun. These massive, magnetically complex regions were the source of some of the largest space weather events ever seen. Sun-watchers called them the Halloween Storms. They produced mighty X flares, including X10 and X17 flares (10 and 17 times an X1 flare). One flare – on October 28 – produced an extremely fast coronal mass ejection (CME) originating from the center of the sun’s disk. It produced a huge geomagnetic storm – on par with the famous Carrington Event – which did have impacts across Earth’s globe, for example, disruption to radio communications, air traffic control and power grids. But the big event of the Halloween Storms of 2003 was yet to come. It was the largest flare of the period – even larger than the Carrington Event flare must have been – coming at around 19 UTC on November 4. The solar flare was off the charts! Scientists could only estimate its strength: from X28 to X45, with an average estimate of about X40. It was the largest solar flare ever observed directly. Fortunately, it came from one of the large sunspot regions just over the sun’s western (receding) limb or edge. So we dodged a bullet!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low. During the past day (between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today), the sun only produced four C flares. The largest was a C3.5 flare exploded by sunspot AR3480 in the southeast at 22:38 UTC on November 3, 2023. Currently the sun is showing seven numbered active regions on its Earth-viewed side. The newcomer of the day is AR3480 on the southeast limb (edge). By the way, yesterday’s huge filament explosion produced a partial halo event. Specialists are conducting an analysis of the coronal mass ejection (CME) to determine if there is an Earth-directed component. Stay tuned, aurora-watchers.

Sun activity for November 3, 2023, huge filament eruption and more M flares

A huge filament eruption occurred in the northwest at around 4:20 UTC on November 3. This rope of solar material and magnetic fields erupted in connection with a C1.4 flare from AR3473. While some of the plasma returned back to the sun, some was launched into space. As much of the filament is located in a geoeffective position, the solar material that was fired into space may be heading our way as a coronal mass ejection (CME). We’ll let you know when the specialists have completed modeling and analysis. With another filament explosion occurring farther north and two M flares being blasted elsewhere on the solar disk, it’s safe to say that solar action is back!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity remains moderate after the production of two M flares. The sun produced 12 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today: two Ms and 10 C flares. The largest event, an M1.7 flare, came from active region AR3474 at 12:22 UTC, November 2. The second, an M1.1, was produced later that day at 19:21 UTC by the incoming active region on southeast limb (edge), which was also producing C flares, jets, and prominences all day. Each M flare produced an R1 (minor) radio blackout. The first affected an area over the South Atlantic Ocean, while the second occurred over Pitcairn Islands off the west coast of South America. The lead flare producer of the day was the as-yet-unnumbered region with six flares: one M and five Cs. Currently the sun has seven numbered active regions on its Earth-viewed side, including newcomer AR3479.

Sun activity for November 2, 2023, incoming region keeps flaring

An M1.4 flare from an incoming region on the southeast limb (edge) has kept sun activity at moderate. This region produced some of the action we’ve been observing over the past few days from beyond the east solar horizon. Another of the new eastern sunspot regions, AR3477, was less productive today, but AR3474 showed growth. It is now the largest region and the only one showing a beta-gamma configuration, meaning it holds the potential for more Cs and M flares. The rest of the active regions show lower-potential alpha or beta magnetic configurations.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate after an isolated M1.4 flare. The sun produced a total of ten flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today: nine Cs plus the M flare. The largest event, the M1.4 flare, was produced by an incoming region in the southeast at 12:26 UTC on November 1. This as-yet-unnumbered sunspot group was the leading flare producer of the period, with six out of the day’s ten flares. The runner-up was sunspot AR3472 with three C flares. The M flare caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout that affected an area over the South Atlantic Ocean. The sun currently has six labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side, including a newcomer on the northeast limb (edge) labeled AR3478. There is also a new coronal hole on the southeast solar quadrant. It’s big enough to nearly cross the equator, and could be the next important source of fast solar wind heading our way and disturbing our geomagnetic field.

Sun activity for November 1, 2023: M flare and huge prominence eruption!

Sun activity is finally picking up! We observed an M flare and associated eruption from new region AR3477 on the eastern limb (edge). And it’s likely that the explosion was actually larger than an M1.2, because, since the event occurred over the horizon, the sun itself will have blocked much of the flare’s light. While AR3477 was doing its magic, a huge filament in the southeast erupted in a southward direction. The event is under analysis by space weather forecasters to determine if the associated coronal mass ejection (CME) might reach Earth. Initial observations indicated that it should miss us, but we will have to wait for further results. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate, with an M flare and twelve C flares during the past day. For the first time in weeks, overall activity is on the rise thanks largely to new region AR3477. AR3477 produced most of the day’s events, firing off eight C flares and the one M flare. The largest event was the M1.2 flare, produced at 6:07 UTC on November 1. Shortly after the blast, an R1 (minor) radio blackout was observed affecting an area over the South Indian Ocean. The sun currently has five labeled active regions on the Earth-facing side.

The post Sun activity archive for November 2023 first appeared on EarthSky.

The sun – our blazing star – has a metaphorical dark side. It has the potential to cause our modern technological civilization to falter. We had a taste of our sun’s destructive effects on September 2, 1859. On that day, around the world, compasses at sea failed to work, causing some ships to become lost. Telegraph networks experienced disruption, with some telegraph lines catching fire. Tellingly, people as far south as the Caribbean and Mexico saw auroras. Scientists now believe that what happened on that day – 164 years ago – was an extreme geomagnetic storm. Since then, the 1859 storm has become known as the Carrington Event.

Many scientists and others wonder … what would happen if a Carrington Event took place today?

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

The Carrington Event

Richard Carrington was a well-known British astronomer of the 19th century. His focus was the sun. He determined the position of the sun’s axis of rotation (the location of its north and south poles) and was the first to learn that the sun doesn’t rotate as a solid body, but that solar material goes around faster at the sun’s equator than at its poles. He discovered that the dark spots on the sun’s surface, called sunspots, vary in latitude over the 11-year solar cycle. He and Richard Hodgson saw the first bonafide solar flare.

On the first day of September 1859, he was observing sunspots when he saw a bright flash of light. Scholars now believe he saw the mighty coronal mass ejection (CME) – a powerful eruption near the sun’s surface, driven by kinks in the solar magnetic field – whose resulting shocks rippled through our solar system. One day later, on Earth, a great storm occurred in our world’s magnetic field. The effects of that great geomagnetic storm are now called the Carrington Event.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

CMEs are common on the sun, especially when the sun is near the peak of its 11-year solar cycle. And aurora-watchers welcome them, because they cause the beautiful displays of auroras, aka northern or southern lights, seen at high latitudes. Nowadays, our spacecraft routinely record CMEs. But, in the 19th century, CMEs hadn’t been discovered yet (although there’d been hints that they existed).

Not until 1971 did the Helios spacecraft discover CMEs from ultraviolet observations.

Carrington Event report

Carrington immediately reported the flash to the Royal Astronomical Society. He probably didn’t give it much more thought until the next day … when the fast-moving solar particles had had time to travel across space to Earth, causing the geomagnetic field to go haywire. Wrapping Earth in a seething, writhing mass of high-energy particles, the blast of solar particles buffeted, squeezed and distorted Earth’s magnetosphere, releasing an estimated 10³⁵ electron volts of energy. That’s a ten followed by 35 zeroes. This amount of energy is equal to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb. It’s also equal to the amount of energy the sun releases in about 10 seconds.

It was the most powerful solar event ever yet recorded.

The effects of the Carrington Event

The effects of the September 2, 1859, solar storm were unprecedented. People saw auroras as far south as the Caribbean and Mexico. At some more northerly latitudes, it’s said the sky was so bright with auroras that birds, thinking it was morning, began to sing. But it wasn’t all awe and beauty. There were widespread stories of people receiving shocks from doorknobs and other metal objects, thanks to the induction of electrical currents. Around the world, compasses at sea failed to work, causing some ships to become lost. Telegraph networks experienced disruption, with some telegraph lines catching fire.

One apocryphal tale tells of a telegraph operator who received a shock from his machine, knocking him unconscious and awaking later to find his arm paralyzed. This story, while remaining uncorroborated, is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

The extreme geomagnetic storm subsided the following day. Work began to repair telegraph networks. The brilliant auroras faded from view, and the world returned to normal.

But the stories of the event remain to this day.

A bit of background

The Carrington Event was an extreme geomagnetic storm. To understand the 1859 event, we must understand the solar cycle. German amateur astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe had just discovered the 11-year cycle in the year 1843. Schwabe had been observing the sun for over 17 years when he noticed that the number of sunspots on the sun’s surface varied over time. He also noticed that the period of this variation was about 11 years.

Schwabe’s discovery was a breakthrough in our understanding of the sun. It showed that our star is not a static object, but rather dynamic and ever-changing.

And – thanks to Schwabe’s tracking of the solar cycles – we know that the peak of Solar Cycle 10 was in February 1860. The Carrington Event happened just months earlier, in September 1859.

The sun’s magnetic field

The sun’s magnetic field creates the 11-year solar cycle, which peaks when the north and south magnetic poles of the sun swap places. Around the peak of each cycle, for a few years on either side, the sun can experience violent events, including increased coronal mass ejections (CMEs). We’re in such a time now, by the way. The peak of the current solar cycle is expected in the mid-2020s. You can read the sun news each day at EarthSky’s daily sun post.

When a CME leaves the sun, the sun expels around a billion tons of matter. And sometimes this solar material is directed toward Earth. When it arrives, the Earth experiences a geomagnetic storm, usually not an extreme one, but an awesome event nonetheless. At such times, the solar wind slams into our planet’s magnetic field, infusing Earth’s magnetosphere with high-energy particles.

From our viewpoint on the surface of Earth, one immediate effect is beautiful, bright auroras as the particles collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere, imparting their energy and causing the atoms to glow. This is a geomagnetic storm, and it can last for many hours.

News reports from the time

The Carrington Event was a hot story in newspapers of the day. The September 2, 1859, edition of The New York Times reported:

Last night the city was visited by one of the most brilliant displays of the aurora borealis that has been witnessed for many years. The sky was clear, and the stars shone with unusual brilliancy. About nine o’clock a faint light appeared in the north, which gradually increased in brightness until it reached the zenith. The aurora then assumed a variety of forms, and the sky was constantly changing. At times the whole heavens were illuminated with a brilliant light, and the stars were entirely obscured. The aurora continued for several hours and disappeared about midnight.

On September 3, 1859, The Boston Globe reported:

Yesterday there was a great magnetic storm which affected all the telegraph lines in the country. The telegraph lines in Boston were all interrupted for several hours, and some of them were so badly injured that they will not be repaired for several days. The storm also affected the magnetic compasses on ships, and some vessels lost their way.

And on September 5, 1859, The London Times reported:

On the night of the 1st and 2nd of September … the magnetic compasses were so much affected that it was impossible to steer by them. The aurora borealis was seen in many places where it is rarely seen, and in some places it was so bright that it was possible to read by it.

If a Carrington Event happened today

Today we live in a completely different world. Our technology is advanced, complex and ubiquitous. Where once telegraph lines sang their messages across the flat midwestern plains of the United States, now it’s the internet that connects us and everything we do.

The first undersea transatlantic telegraph cable came just a year before the Carrington Event, in 1858. It connected North America with Europe for the first time, allowing news to propagate around the world faster than ever before. Today, most of the world’s internet traffic flows through undersea cables of vast capacity. Existing cables flow with ever-multiplying streams of ones and zeroes, the telegraph songs of the digital age.

Computers manage our society. They affect every single aspect of our lives, from traffic control to power grids to banking to healthcare to entertainment. The birth of the integrated circuit gave us the modern world, appearing in all modern devices from toasters to televisions and cellphones to cars. What might another Carrington-type event do, if it were to induce large electrical currents in Earth’s magnetic field? What might happen to national power grids? 

There would almost certainly be widespread burnout of electronic circuits and the failure of power grids on a much bigger scale than the 1989 Quebec blackout from a solar storm. Many, many millions of people would likely be without power and unable to use phones or other devices.

The effects on satellites

In space, satellites would also fail as their electronics fried. This has happened several times during geomagnetic storms on a scale far smaller than the Carrington Event. The most recent was in March 2022, when 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites failed after a CME. They launched the day before the storm hit. But it wasn’t their electronic systems that failed. One effect of a geomagnetic storm is to increase atmospheric drag on the satellites. It pulled the satellites back toward Earth, where they burned up in the atmosphere.

Only about 1% of the world’s internet traffic transmits via satellite. However, in the banking industry, ATM and credit card transactions, the transfer of funds and banking messages all travel through satellites. Widespread communication loss would be inevitable. There would be utter chaos for a while. Recovery might take years.

Predicting the next one

If all this sounds frightening to you, let’s ask an important question to put it all in perspective. Just how likely is another Carrington Event? After all, it’s been 164 years since the last one. So do we view it as a blip, or do such events recur on longer timescales, or perhaps even at regular intervals? Can we predict the next storm and what its effects might be? And – perhaps the most important question – just how much notice might we get of an extreme, Carrington-like event?

Let’s start with the source of the problem: coronal mass ejections or CMEs. Yes, we know much more than we did about them since their discovery in 1971. But CMEs are unpredictable. Apart from the fact that they occur more frequently around solar maximum, due to that reorientation of the sun’s magnetic field, we don’t yet know enough about the mechanisms that generate CMEs to say when they will occur.

So, we have no way of knowing when a event similar to the Carrington Event might occur again. We also don’t know how often these events occurred before 1859. Before there were electric grids or devices, such storms probably went unrecorded apart from mentions of brilliant auroras.

Preparing for the next one

How much notice might we receive of an impending, society-changing, potentially catastrophic storm? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that scientists are fully aware of the dangers. They’re working hard using artificial intelligence to model when and where they could hit worst. NASA heliophysicists have created a system called DAGGER, but it could only give us an estimated 30 minutes’ warning of an approaching storm.

We now have the sun under constant observation from Earth and satellites. But when the sun releases a CME, it’s difficult to work out exactly how much material will hit us. Put simply, we don’t know which ones are the dangerous ones.

Hope rests on attaining a greater, more holistic and in-depth understanding of the sun’s magnetic field. One day, we might be able to predict the destructive geomagnetic storms of the future. We can harden our technology and power grids against damage in the same way that spacecraft have their electronics hardened against electrical currents. But that requires lots of money and the world’s politicians to recognize the dangers and act.

So far, they have not allocated nearly enough money and resources to protect us from civilization-destroying asteroids or, of course, the effects of climate change. There’s little reason to be optimistic that those in power will take the threat of another Carrington Event seriously.

Learning lessons from the Carrington Event

The Carrington Event, in the end, caused minimal damage in an age when there was little which could be damaged. But were it to occur today, it would be catastrophic. We really need to learn the lessons from our ancestors and treat the sun seriously as a threat as well a life-giver. If we do not, we will only have ourselves to blame when the next extreme geomagnetic storm hits.

Bottom line: The Carrington Event of 1859 was a massive geomagnetic storm triggered by activity on the sun. People saw auroras at low latitudes that were bright enough to read by.

Read more: Biggest solar superstorm yet, glimpsed in ancient tree rings

The post What was the Carrington Event, and why does it matter? first appeared on EarthSky.

Wow. The solar eclipse photos from last Saturday (October 14, 2023) still haven’t stopped coming in. Here are a few more great ones! Thanks to all who contributed to EarthSky Community Photos!

Click here to see our earlier October 14 solar eclipse gallery.
Submit your photo here.

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

Solar eclipse photos in composites

The ring of fire

Indirect viewing, and solar binoculars

Solar eclipse photos of stunning landscapes

Family fun

Partial solar eclipse photos

Fun on campus

More ways to see the eclipse

Bottom line: Solar eclipse photos from last Saturday (October 14, 2023) are still coming in. Here are more great ones. Thanks to all who contributed to EarthSky Community Photos!

The post Solar eclipse photos keep coming, and they’re awesome first appeared on EarthSky.

Did you get to see the partial solar eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023? Or – even better – did you stand in line with the sun and moon, and see the “ring of fire” at mid-eclipse, the outer surface of the sun in a ring around the moon? We know many had clear skies, and we wish you all did! And if you missed the eclipse due to clouds or location, we hope you’ll enjoy these amazing eclipse photos, shared by the EarthSky Community. The photos are still coming in. Check back! Have a great photo of your own to share? Submit it here!

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

Composite images

Maximum annularity

The partial stages

Nature’s crescents

And rings, too! The annular eclipse produced rings or spirals during maximum for those in the path of annularity.

Sunspots on eclipse day

More eclipse fun

A great event for family and friends

Bottom line: Check out these amazing eclipse photos from the EarthSky community. From the partial phase to annularity to eclipse crescents on the ground, see great moments here!

The post Eclipse photos here! Annular solar eclipse October 14, 2023 first appeared on EarthSky.

Annular solar eclipse October 14, 2023

The first of two great American solar eclipses happens today! The “ring of fire” solar eclipse of Saturday, October 14, 2023, will be visible to those along a narrow path sweeping over North and South America. At mid-eclipse, those along the eclipse path will see the sun in a ring around the moon. Meanwhile, those outside the shadow path will see a partial solar eclipse. Important: this is not a total eclipse. And the first thing to remember, at no time during this eclipse will it be safe to look at the sun without proper eye protection.

The second great American eclipse will come early next year. It’ll be the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024. Read about the April 8 eclipse here.

Click here to learn how to watch a solar eclipse safely.

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

Seeing the eclipse from your location

You can find local circumstances for a selection of cities at Fred Espenak’s EclipseWise website:

– If you can see the annular phase in the U.S.

– Watching the partial phase in the U.S.

– If you’re in Canada

Fred Espenak provides all times in local time. In addition, the sun’s altitude and azimuth, the eclipse magnitude and obscuration are all listed for the instant of maximum eclipse.

ON the other hand, are you outside the U.S. and Canada? Or do you want to check another source? In that case, try these sources:

– At TimeandDate.com

– The Solar Eclipse Circumstances Calculator is an interactive web page

– On this interactive Google map

Solar eclipse livestreams here

TimeandDate live broadcast

NASA live broadcast

Virtual Telescope live broadcast

Great American Eclipse live broadcast

University of Texas McDonald Observatory live broadcast

Slooh live broadcast

Space.com live broadcast

Exploratorium live broadcast

Ways to watch a solar eclipse safely on October 14

The video below offers tips on how to watch the annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023, safely. Or click here for a printed article on solar eclipse safety. And, by the way, Solar Cycle 25 is ramping up. That means there are going to be more and more spots on the sun in the coming years. With that in mind, any of these safe solar viewing methods can let you enjoy tracking sunspots in the coming years.

Why is it called an annular eclipse?

Astronomers call this an annular eclipse of the sun. That name comes from the Latin word for ring: annulus. It refers to the outer rings of the sun’s surface, visible at mid-eclipse. And, though not as dramatic as a total solar eclipse, this eclipse will be fascinating to view. You really only need to know two things. First, how much of the sun will be covered from your location? Second, what time is the eclipse from your location? More about that in the next section.

Overall, the eclipse will last 214 minutes. At maximum eclipse – for those along the eclipse path – the sun will be just over 90 percent covered by the moon. The part of the sun that will visible is its outer surface. So essentially, an annular eclipse is a partial eclipse, throughout the event. And remember, use eye protection!

More annular solar eclipse maps from Great American Eclipse

Michael Zeiler of GreatAmericanEclipse.com has generously given us permission to share his eclipse maps for the annular eclipse. Here, you can get a better idea of where you’ll want to be and when to see this unique phenomenon.

Overview of the annular solar eclipse path

On October 14, 2023, the path of the annular solar eclipse starts in the Pacific Ocean, coming onshore in Oregon. Then, the path heads southeast through Nevada, the Four Corners area and Texas. Later, it crosses the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan Peninsula plus parts of Central America. Finally, it crosses Colombia and Brazil in South America.

To be sure, the closer to the annular path you are (the red line on the chart at top), the more the sun will be eclipsed by the moon. Likewise, outside of this path, viewers will see a partial solar eclipse.

Notably, over the course of three hours and 34 minutes, the moon’s antumbral shadow will traverse an 8,574-mile-long (13,800-km-long) track covering 0.57% of Earth’s surface area.

This is 2023’s 2nd solar eclipse

The first solar eclipse in 2023 – on April 20, 2023 – was a hybrid solar eclipse whose path of totality passed over North West Cape, a remote peninsula of western Australia. In a hybrid solar eclipse, you see either an annular solar eclipse or a total solar eclipse, depending on your position along the central eclipse path.

October 2023 and April 2024 eclipses

And there’ll be a similar eclipse in 2077

According to the renowned astronomer Guy Ottewell, a very similar annular eclipse to the eclipse on October 14, 2023, will occur on November 15, 2077. Aren’t the predictable cycles of the cosmos amazing?

Bottom line: The October 14, 2023 annular solar eclipse will cross the US, Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Brazil. Maps and more here.

Read more:

The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

Annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023, from Michael Zeller

October 14, 2023, Great American Eclipse from TimeandDate.com

Special thanks to Fred Espenak at EclipseWise.com

The post Annular solar eclipse today: All you need to know first appeared on EarthSky.

Seeing sunspots during a solar eclipse

Millions will cast their (protected) eyes toward the sun during tomorrow’s solar eclipse. While only those on the path of annularity will be able to see the ring of fire – the outermost layer of the sun in a ring around the moon at mid-eclipse – almost all of North America, and much of South America, will see a partial eclipse. Here’s something fun to try while you’re waiting for maximum eclipse. As the moon is passing in front of the sun, look for sunspots on the unblocked portion of the sun’s surface. Most sunspots are too small to see with ordinary eclipse glasses. But your eclipse glasses will show you a large sunspot. And there’s a good-sized spot near the sun’s east limb now that you can at least try for.

Plus many observers will be watching the eclipse using indirect viewing, or telescopes and binoculars, with special solar filters. No matter how you’re viewing, look at the sun carefully. Do you see any dark spots?

The good news is that the emerging sunspot – labeled AR3465 – will become easier to see from Earth as the sun rotates. So the view on eclipse day (October 14) should be even better than that in the chart at the top of this post.

On this Saturday, as the eclipses progress, observers with solar telescopes will be able to see the moon’s black silhouette reaching and even covering some of the visible sunspots.

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

Sunspots are fun

Sunspots are fun to see and contemplate. They are regions of strong magnetic fields on the sun’s surface. They appear dark because they’re cooler (or, perhaps more accurately, less hot) than other parts of the sun’s surface.

An amazing fact is that these dark patches may appear small to you, but they’re usually are a couple of times bigger than Earth’s diameter!

As the images above show, there will be likely be multiple spots on the face of the sun during the October 14, 2023, eclipse. After all, we’re moving toward the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity. So, on any given day, the sun has spots. The peak of this cycle – known as Cycle 25 – is predicted for the mid-2020s. Sunspots come and go. But they typically last on the order of several earthly days. So the sunspots we’re seeing on the east (left) side of the sun today (October 12) should still be mostly visible during the October 14 eclipse.

Sunspots sometimes emerge into the middle of the sun’s bright disk, too. In other words, they can surprise us! And those that do come into view on the east side of the sun – the side rotating into view of Earth – typically take about 12 days to move across the sun’s visible face, before turning the corner to the sun’s far side.

Sunspots viewed from Mars

The large sunspot in the east (by the arrow in the top image) is one of a few that earthlings have seen recently from another planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover – one of the active rovers currently making its way across the surface of Mars – has a solar filter as part of a filter wheel attached to its mast cameras.

The Perseverance rover on Mars has a different perspective on the sun than we do. That’s because Mars and Earth are currently on nearly opposite sides of the sun from each other. So Mars gets a peek of the activity that’s on the far side of the sun from Earth.

Some thoughts about telescopic filters

Of course, you don’t need to wait for an eclipse to view sunspots. You can view them whenever they’re visible on the sun (and again they’re going to be very visible over the next few years, as we reach solar maximum) … assuming you’re using protective filters.

The most popular and affordable solar filters for telescopes are the white light filters, which provide nice views of sunspots. Some with higher resolution will clearly show other features on the sun’s surface, including faculae – bright areas with a white appearance – which are also magnetically strong fields, although less concentrated than in sunspots.

Hydrogen alpha filters or Ha telescopes, while more expensive, show amazing views of solar prominences that look like flames on the sun’s edge. Those will also provide a nice twist to the solar eclipse, showing the moon’s dark disk close to the prominences.

If you didn’t pick up a solar filter or a pair of solar binoculars in time for this eclipse, there’s another one on the way for North America! Plan now and you can be stocked up in time for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Bottom line: If you’re watching the annular or partial solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, with safe filters, look for sunspots around the disk of the dark moon.

The post Seeing sunspots during the solar eclipse on October 14 first appeared on EarthSky.

Biggest solar superstorm yet

Scientists said on October 9, 2023, that they have a new candidate for the biggest solar superstorm yet known. The evidence takes the form of radiocarbon (carbon 14) in ancient tree rings, which had been preserved in a riverbank in the French Alps. The scientists believe that, for this much radiocarbon to show up in tree rings, an immense spike in radiocarbon must have occurred in Earth’s upper atmosphere some 14,300 years ago. They believe the spike stemmed from a huge disturbance on the sun that rippled out across the solar system, a solar superstorm so powerful that we still see its effect, thousands of years later. Solar storms aren’t rare. But solar superstorms packing this much punch certainly are rare. If one were to strike Earth today, Earth’s atmosphere would protect our human bodies from harm. But the superstorm would likely cause billions of dollars in damages to human technologies, in particular to our electric grid, and also to satellites in Earth’s orbit.

The scientists said the solar superstorm was 10 times stronger than the solar storm that caused the famous Carrington Event – before now, considered the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history – which sparked fires at telegraph stations and spread auroras around the globe in the year 1859.

The international group of scientists is warning of the importance of understanding such storms to protect our global communications and energy infrastructure for the future.

The 2024 lunar calendars are here! Best Christmas gifts in the universe! Check ’em out here.

Tree rings tell the story

The peer-reviewed journal The Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A published these researchers’ study on October 9.

The researchers analyzed preserved trees from along the banks of the Drouzet River in the French Alps. The trees were partially fossilized, and tiny slices of the tree rings showed an unprecedented spike in radiocarbon levels occurring precisely 14,300 years ago.

Cécile Miramont of Aix-en-Provence University said:

Finding such a collection of preserved trees was truly exceptional. By comparing the widths of the individual tree rings in the multiple tree trunks, we then carefully pieced together the separate trees to create a longer timeline using a method called dendrochronology.

This allowed us to discover invaluable information on past environmental changes and measure radiocarbon over an uncharted period of solar activity.

The role of radiocarbon

Edouard Bard, lead author of the study from the Collège de France and CEREGE, explained:

Radiocarbon is constantly being produced in the upper atmosphere through a chain of reactions initiated by cosmic rays. Recently, scientists have found that extreme solar events including solar flares and coronal mass ejections can also create short-term bursts of energetic particles that are preserved as huge spikes in radiocarbon production …

How did the radiocarbon make its way into the trees? The scientists’ paper explained:

The radiocarbon produced is not only circulated through the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, but also absorbed by the biosphere and locked in the annual growth rings of trees.

The team compared this spike to the chemical beryllium from ice cores in Greenland.

A solar superstorm and Earth

If the solar storm from 14,300 years ago had struck Earth today, it might have wiped out human systems of telecommunications, satellites and electrical grids. These scientists expressed their belief in a need to protect human infrastructure from extreme behavior on our star, 93 million miles (150 million km) away. Tim Heaton of the University of Leeds said:

Extreme solar storms could have huge impacts on Earth. Such super storms could permanently damage the transformers in our electricity grids, resulting in huge and widespread blackouts lasting months.

Imagine if the satellite systems that bring you cell phone service or internet or GPS are suddenly gone, along with the electricity for warming and cooling your home or cooking and preserving food. Then you’ll understand why research into this area is so crucial. As Heaton said:

Radiocarbon provides a phenomenal way of studying Earth’s history and reconstructing critical events that it has experienced. A precise understanding of our past is essential if we want to accurately predict our future and mitigate potential risks. We still have much to learn.

What are Miyake Events?

Using tree ring and ice core data from the last 15,000 years, scientists have now identified nine huge solar superstorms. They call these solar superstorms Miyake Events for Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake, who was the first to identify the radiocarbon spikes. The two most recent Miyake Events were in 993 CE and 774 CE.

The 14,300-year-old Miyake Event is the largest scientists have yet found. It was about twice as strong as the events from 993 and 774 CE. Without direct observations of these events, it’s challenging to learn more about them. Scientists still don’t know what causes these powerful solar storms, how frequent they might be, and if we can predict them. Bard said:

Direct instrumental measurements of solar activity only began in the 17th century with the counting of sunspots. Nowadays, we also obtain detailed records using ground-based observatories, space probes, and satellites. However, all these short-term instrumental records are insufficient for a complete understanding of the sun. Radiocarbon measured in tree-rings, used alongside beryllium in polar ice cores, provide the best way to understand the sun’s behavior further back into the past.

The Carrington Event

And, by the way, the 1859 Carrington Event – which is well known in our time – wasn’t large enough to be considered a Miyake Event. We know about it because it occurred relatively recently, and the people who experienced it left behind their observations. As the scientists’ statement explained:

The largest, directly observed solar storm occurred in 1859 and is known as the Carrington Event. It caused massive disruption on Earth: destroying telegraph machines and creating a night-time aurora so bright that birds began to sing, believing the sun had begun to rise.

However, the Miyake Events (including the newly discovered 14,300-year-old storm) would have been a staggering entire order-of-magnitude greater [10 times greater] in size.

AN EXTREME SOLAR STORM: Tree ring evidence of a solar storm hit Earth about 14,000 years ago that was 10 times stronger than the Carrington event of 1859 which damaged telegraph wires and aurora were seen in Cuba. Such a storm could destroy most of our satellites and power grids pic.twitter.com/moWYFTN2qG

— Keith Strong (@drkstrong) October 10, 2023

Bottom line: Researchers analyzing tree rings from the French Alps discovered the largest-known solar storm, which happened 14,300 years ago. If this storm hit today, it would wreck some critical human infrastructure.

Source: A radiocarbon spike at 14,300 cal yr BP in subfossil trees provides the impulse response function of the global carbon cycle during the Late Glacial

Via University of Leeds

Read more: How likely is another Carrington Event?

The post Biggest solar superstorm yet, glimpsed in ancient tree rings first appeared on EarthSky.