Should We Worry About "Killer Solar Flare"? - Three X-Class Flares In 24 Hours

MessageToEagle.com – Given a legitimate need to protect Earth from the most intense forms of space weather — great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the sun — some people worry that a gigantic “killer solar flare” could hurl enough energy to destroy Earth, but this is not actually possible.

Solar activity is indeed currently ramping up toward what is known as solar maximum, something that occurs approximately every 11 years.

Original Story: May 13

UPDATES:

First Update: May 13, 1:30 p.m. EDT

On May 13, 2013, the sun emitted an X2.8-class flare, peaking at 12:05 p.m. EDT. This is the the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. It is the 16th X-class flare of the current solar cycle and the third-largest flare of that cycle. The second-strongest was an X5.4 event on March 7, 2012. The strongest was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.

On May 13, 2013, an X2.8-class flare erupted from the sun — the strongest flare of 2013 to date. This image of the flare, shown in the upper left corner, was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory in light of 131 angstroms, a wavelength which is particularly good for capturing the intense heat of a solar flare and which is typically colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO

Second Update: May 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT

The X2.8-class flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection, or CME, another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space, which can potentially affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. The CME was not Earth-directed, but could pass NASA’s STEREO-B, Messenger and Spitzer spacecraft.

Their mission operators have been notified. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 1,200 miles per second beginning at 12:18 p.m. EDT. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from solar material.

First X-Class Flares of 2013

On May 12-13, 2013, the sun erupted with an X1.7-class and an X2.8-class flare, as well as two coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, off the upper left side of the sun. Solar material also danced and blew off the sun in what’s called a prominence eruption on the lower right side of the sun. This movie compiles imagery of this activity from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and from NASA and the European Space Agency’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

Third Update: May 14, 9 a.m. EDT

The sun emitted a third significant solar flare in under 24 hours, peaking at 9:11 p.m. EDT on May 13, 2013. This flare is classified as an X3.2 flare. This is the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the two X-class flares that occurred earlier in the 24-hour period. 

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