Recently, NASA has recorded the largest solar flare within the last 6 years. Many questions can be extracted from this: What is a Solar Flare? How does it form? What does it do? These mysteries have all been solved and explained.
On Saturday the 16th of December, a NASA telescope captured the biggest Solar Flare in years, even saying it cut out Radio communications in the U.S. Now what is a solar flare? According to NASA, ‘A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.’ In simpler terms, the build-up of magnetic energy suddenly being released, this flare then disrupts Earth’s magnetic field, cutting off GPS navigation and Radio Communications. The energy released is a million times greater than the energy released from a Volcanic Eruption!
Since there is also a massive burst of radiation, you must be wondering if this radiation can kill us, the answer is no. Luckily we are protected by our magnetic field and atmosphere, saving all of us. However, if they were not there, most organisms would be obliterated in seconds by the immense force and energy released.
Think of the sun as a creature that is alive, it releases energy and is constantly active, providing light for our entire solar system. Just like Earth, you can imagine Solar Flares as ‘bad weather’, which comes and goes at unknown times, which we cannot predict, at least that is what we thought. Solar activity follows a regular pattern with peaks and downfalls every 11 years (solar maximum and solar minimum), from which we can decipher which cycle we are on cycle 25. There is still so much we humans do not know about these fascinating astronomical events, however as the world’s technology evolves, we hope to uncover more about it and the other wonders of space.
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