Solar rash Explosion in the atmosphere of the sun with an energy equivalent to 6 * 1025 joules. They take place in the solar corona and the chromosphere, heating plasma to tens of millions of kelvin and accelerating the resulting heavier electrons, protons, and ions at speeds close to the speed of light. They produce electromagnetic radiation at all wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, from long radio waves to the shortest gamma rays.
Summary
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- 1 Solar flares
- 2 Classification
- 3 Dangers
- 4 Largest solar flare 2005
- 5 Sources
Solar flares
Sunspots
Most occur around sunspots, where intense magnetic fields emerge from the Sun’s surface toward the corona. The energy efficiency associated with solar flares could take hours or days to accumulate, but most flares take only a few minutes to release their energy. They were first observed on the Sun in 1959, and on other stars. The frequency of these events varies, from several a day when the Sun is particularly “active” to less than a weekly when it is “calm”. Solar activity varies on an 11-year cycle; At the top of the cycle there are usually more spots on the Sun, and therefore more solar flares.
Classification
Solar flares are classified as A, B, C, M, or X depending on the peak X-ray flux (in watts per square meter, W / m2) of 100 to 800 picometers in the vicinity of Earth, measured in the spacecraft GOES. Each class has a peak of flow ten times greater than the previous one, with class X eruptions having a peak of the order of 10-4 W / m2. Within a class there is a linear scale from 1 to 9, so an X2 eruption has twice the power of an X1, and is four times more powerful than an M5. The most powerful classes, M and X, are often associated with various effects in the near-Earth space environment. Although the GOES classification is often used to indicate the size of a rash, it is only a measurement.
Two of the largest GOES eruptions were the X20 events (2mW / m2) recorded on August 16, 1989 and April 2, 2001. However, these two events were overshadowed by an eruption on November 4, 2003, which has been the most powerful X-ray eruption ever recorded. At first it was classified as an X28 (2.8 mW / m2). However, GOES detectors were saturated during the peak of the eruption, and are currently thought to have actually been between X40 (4.0 mW / m2) and X45 (4.5 mW / m2), based on the influence of the event on the atmosphereland. The eruption originated in spot region 10486, shown in the illustration above several days after the event. The most powerful eruption in the last 500 years is believed to have happened in September 1859: it was observed by British astronomer Richard Carrington and left traces on Greenland ice in the form of nitrates and beryllium-10, which allows its power to be measured even today. (New Scientist, 2005).
Dangers
Solar flares are associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) greatly influence our local solar meteorology. They produce highly energetic particle streams in the solar wind and Earth ‘s magnetosphere that can present radiation hazards to spacecraft and astronauts. X-ray flux from eruption class X increases ionization of the upper atmosphere, and this can interfere with shortwave radio communications, and increase friction with satellites in low orbit, leading to orbital decay. The presence of these energetic particles in the magnetosphere contributes to the northern lights and the southern lights .
Solar flares release a cascade of high-energy particles known as a proton storm. Protons can pass through the human body, causing biochemical damage . Most of these storms take two or more hours to reach Earth upon visual detection. An eruption on January 20, 2005 released the highest directly measured concentration of protons, which took only 15 minutes to reach Earth upon observation. The radiation risk posed by solar flares and CME is one of the biggest concerns regarding manned missions to Mars or the Moon.. Some form of physical or magnetic shielding would be needed to protect astronauts. At first it was believed that these would have two hours to reach a refuge. Based on the January 20 event, they could have as little as 15 minutes to do so.
Largest solar flare 2005
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The Sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the largest solar flare in more than six years, and the process is expected to continue through the middle of the week. The solar flare occurred at approximately 04:00 GMT on Monday and radiation is impacting our planet with three different effects at three different times, said the National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center. “The eruption itself is nothing spectacular, but it ejected a coronal mass (plasma cloud of intense magnetic field) into space at a phenomenal speed of 6.4 million km / h,” said Doug Biesecker., physicist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Radiation mainly strikes satellites and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for planes on transpolar flights (those that traverse the North Pole), according to a Center physicist, Doug Biesecker . Radiation from Sunday’s storm hit Earth an hour later, and will likely continue through Wednesday. The levels are considered intense, but there have been other stronger storms. It is the most intense in terms of radiation since May 2005.
Radiation – in the form of protons – reaches from the Sun at 150 million km / h. “The whole volume of the space between here and Jupiter is full of protons and you don’t just get rid of them like that,” Biesecker said . That is why the effects will last a couple of days.
Space surgeons and NASA solar experts studied the possible effects and determined that the six astronauts on the International Space Station in orbit do not need to do anything to protect themselves from radiation, spokesman Rob Navias reported . The solar flare is followed by three movements, explained Antti Pulkkinen , a physicist at NASA Maryland and at the Catholic University.
First, electromagnetic radiation is produced. The protons are then emitted. Plasma eventually breaks off from the solar surface, which typically travels 1.6 to 3.2 million km / h, but this storm is particularly fast, blasting 6.4 million km / h, Biesecker said .
It is the plasma that causes a good part of the problems on Earth, such as blackouts. In 1989, a solar storm caused a massive blackout in Quebec. This detachment will likely be moderate, although with the possibility of intensifying, he added.
The Sun’s geomagnetic storm is the strongest since 2005, but it was rated category 3 on a scale that has 5, it said. Therefore, it is considered “strong”, but not “serious”.
According to the NOAA website, a Category 3 event can cause disturbances to satellite computer systems as well as pole radio communications. Air navigation and oil rigs may also be affected in those areas.
