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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsX-class sun storm on its way Auroras might be seen in DC.
The sun unleashed a huge flare Thursday (July 12), the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week.
The solar flare peaked at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) as an X-class sun storm, the most powerful type of flare the suncan have an alert. Active Region 1520, or AR1520, is a giant sunspot currently facing Earth.
According to NASA and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SPWC), which is operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, today's sun storm registered as an X1.4-class solar flare. It is more powerful than the X1.1 flare that erupted on July 6 from another giant sunspot known as AR1515, making this latest tempest the strongest solar storm of the summer so far.
The sunspot region AR1520 could be up to 186,411 miles (300,000 kilometers) long at its peak, solar astrophysicist C. Alex Young of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center told SPACE.com. It is about 50 percent larger than last week's sunspot AR1515. [Photos of Huge Sunspot AR1520]
"It's quite extensive," Young said, adding that sunspots the size of AR1520 are normal as the sun nears its peak of its weather cycle in 2013.
http://www.space.com/16560-major-solar-flare-erupts-giant-sunspot.html
The mid United States might see auroras read on another site.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)...streamed thru Amazon Cloud Drive, from my Droid T-Bolt, piped thru a little bluetooth speaker. The music then began to skip back and forth, almost like and old LP with the needle stuck. First time that's ever happened, and now I know why!
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)the CME will hit Earth on July 14th around 10:20 UT (+/- 7 hours) and could spark strong geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend.
http://spaceweather.com/
dotymed
(5,610 posts)I hope they are visible in TN. this weekend. I saw them here decades ago.
I also wonder if this is another sign of trouble for our planet....
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)No winter, extreme heat waves, EXTREME weather events, all during the Solar Max.