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ANOTHER MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected an X6.3-class solar flare from sunspot AR3590 (Feb. 22 @ 2234 UT). This is the strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, and the third X-flare the sunspot has produced in a 24 hour period. Stay tuned for updates about this explosion, especially whether or not it has hurled a CME toward Earth.
A SUNSPOT YOU CAN SEE USING ECLIPSE GLASSES: Got eclipse glasses? If so, put them on and look at the sun. There's no eclipse today, but there's still something to see. A giant sunspot is crossing the solar disk. AR3590 is so big you can see it without magnification.
DOUBLE X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Big sunspot AR3590 is as dangerous as it looks. During the past 24 hours, the active region has produced two X-class solar flares, a pair of almost identical X1.8 and X1.7 explosions
Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flares ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing shortwave radio blackouts over Hawaii (late on Feb 21st) and Australia (early on Feb. 22nd). Mariners and ham radio operators in those areas may have noticed loss of signal at all frequencies below 30 MHz.
Interestingly, neither explosion lifted a CME out of the sun's atmosphere. This means the double flares will not cause any geomagnetic storms on Earth. Disappointed aurora watchers shouldn't give up hope, though; more flares are in the offing. AR3590 has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for additional X-class explosions. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
CELL PHONE OUTAGE: While solar flares can affect communication systems, it is highly unlikely that these two X-flares contributed to today's widely reported cell phone outages. The flares, while intense, did not cause a solar radiation storm. Moreover, the shortwave radio blackouts they did cause were too brief and too low in frequency to interfere with most cell phone communications. Other explanations are more likely.
more images: from Senol Sanli of Bursa, Turkey; from George Ionas of Palmerston North, New Zealand; from William Bradley of Robert Moses State Park, New York
DON'T OVERLOOK THIS ERUPTION: Overshadowed by today's double-X flare, a magnetic filament erupted from the sun's northern hemisphere on Feb. 21st. Some of the the debris might hit Earth.
The snapping filament hurled a bright CME into space. The bulk of the cloud will sail harmlessly ahead of our planet. However, a NASA model of the CME predicts the CME's flank will graze Earth on Feb. 25th. This could spark a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm.
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=22&month=02&year=2024