Narrow coronal mass ejection associated with Solar Flare erupts from Sun, will it hit Earth?
The M2.1 solar flare and coronal mass ejection observed on 1 July.
A cluster of sunspots or an active region (AR) on the Sun, designated as AR 3730 erupted in an M2.1 flare, that was associated with a narrow Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).
Coronal Mass Ejections consist of plasma from the outer atmosphere, or corona of the Sun violently dumped outwards into space.
Multiple CMEs interacting, merging and overtaking each other caused the most intense geomagnetic storm in 20 years, in May.
Narrow coronal mass ejection associated with Solar Flare erupts from Sun, will it hit Earth?
A fragment of the outer atmosphere of the Sun has been violently dumped into space, but will pass the Earth ahead of its orbit.
The M2.1 solar flare and coronal mass ejection observed on 1 July. (Image Credit: NASA/SDO/SOHO/LASCO/News9).
New Delhi: The Sun has been relatively quiescent of late, with the last X-class flare occurring on 10 June. A cluster of sunspots or an active region (AR) on the Sun, designated as AR 3730 erupted in an M2.1 flare, that was associated with a narrow Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Modelling of the material indicated that the hot gas from the outer atmosphere of the Sun will pass the Earth ahead of its orbit, and will not result in severe space weather, or geomagnetic storming at the Earth.
Solar flares are measured on a scale that goes through the letters A, B, C, M and X. Each of the letters are accompanied by a finger-grained scale that goes from the numbers 0 to 9.9. Each subsequent category denotes a flare that is ten times more intense than the previous category. Anything below B is considered close to background level activity on the Sun.
Coronal Mass Ejections consist of plasma from the outer atmosphere, or corona of the Sun violently dumped outwards into space. The material carries with it the magnetic field of the Sun, and can cause geomagnetic storming when it encounters a planetary magnetic field, that can last for days or even weeks. Multiple CMEs interacting, merging and overtaking each other caused the most intense geomagnetic storm in 20 years, in May.
Monster sunspot cluster rotates out of view
The Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecasted low activity for the Sun over the next two days, with the possibility of M-class flares erupting. The undying monster cluster AR 3723, responsible for the historic May geomagnetic storm, the most intense solar radiation storm since 2017, and the most powerful solar flare in the current solar cycle, has rotated out of view and no longer poses a threat to the Earth.
