On New Year’s Eve, a substantial solar flare, the most significant in years, was observed on the sun, prompting a cautionary alert for certain high-frequency radio users.
In a recent update on Sunday evening, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of NOAA unveiled an image of the flare, manifesting as a sizable, luminous spot on the sun.
This specific solar flare, reaching its peak just before 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, was identified as an X5 flare. NASA categorizes solar flares based on their intensity, similar to earthquake classifications.
The scale progresses from B-class as the lowest, to C-class, M-class, and culminating in X-class. Each letter denotes a tenfold increase in energy output, and within each class, there is a scale ranging from 1 to 9, excluding X-class.
Notably, X-class flares can surpass 9, with the largest on record being an X45 in 2003, The Hill reported.
Although Sunday’s X5 flare was smaller than the 2003 event, it marked the most potent solar activity since September 2017 when an X8.2 flare was observed, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
This recent flare also exceeded a previous X2.8 solar flare noted in the same sun region on December 14, which, at the time, was described by the SWPC as “likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded.”
Written by B.C. Begley
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B.C. Begley 