NASA spots rare quadruple solar flare spectacle in the Sun's dance
4:48 PM EDT, April 24, 2024
The Sun, currently nearing the peak of its solar cycle, has been showcasing some remarkable activity. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has been keeping a close eye and recently spotted an unusual event: four solar flares erupting almost simultaneously. Such occurrences are rare and have caught the attention of many scientists.
Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation emanating from the Sun's surface when the energy stored in its magnetic fields, often above sunspots in active regions, gets suddenly released.
Typically, these phenomena occur as singular events, varying in intensity. They are classified into different categories: A (the weakest and most frequent), B, C, M, and X (the most powerful). Scientists also apply a scale from 1 to 9 to describe these events more precisely.
Unprecedented observation of four solar flares
On Tuesday, April 23, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed four solar flares erupting in close succession, with mere minutes separating each event. These explosions originated near three sunspots and a significant solar filament.
According to Live Science, these flares occurred almost concurrently despite the vast distances between them—spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers—covering about a third of the Sun's surface facing Earth.
This series of simultaneous explosions, termed a "sympathetic solar flare," happens when sunspots or solar filaments are interconnected by large magnetic field loops arching across the Sun's surface.
This connectivity can trigger a domino effect, where the explosion in one area can set off reactions and subsequent explosions in others. While typically, such events involve two explosions, witnessing four is a phenomenon, highlighting its rarity, as noted by Space.com.
Experts are yet to determine the strength of these flares. However, they have not dismissed the possibility that the ejected material could reach our planet. There's a concern that if a coronal mass ejection (CME) was aimed toward Earth, it might lead to a geomagnetic storm.
