It has been a busy yr on the solar, because it formally entered the height of its roughly 11-year cycle of exercise, referred to as photo voltaic most. In 2024, the solar launched over 50 X-class photo voltaic flares — probably the most highly effective kind of photo voltaic flare — at Earth.
Photo voltaic flares are categorized by the extent of X-rays they produce in a selected wavelength vary (1 to eight angstroms). Photo voltaic flare courses observe a logarithmic scale, with every flare class — C, M and X — 10 instances stronger than the earlier one. Photo voltaic flares may unleash big clouds of plasma referred to as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which may trigger geomagnetic storms and widespread auroras.
The video above reveals observations from NASA’s Photo voltaic Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Meeting (AIA). The left panels present emissions from AIA 131 Å, and the fitting from AIA 171 Å. These reveal plasma at roughly 18 million and 1.8 million levels Fahrenheit (10 million and 1 million levels Celsius), respectively. Beneath, we check out the ten strongest photo voltaic flares between Jan. 1 and Dec. 10, 2024.
10. X3.38 — Feb. 9
This X3.38 flare, which occurred over the southwestern fringe of the solar, would have measured a lot greater if many of the emission had not been blocked by the sting of the solar. This flare reveals a superb instance of a “coronal wave,” as coronal materials in AIA 171 Å emission is seen to be nearly “blown out of the best way” by the unique flare.
Throughout this large flare on Feb. 9, as with nearly all X-class flares, the intense and concentrated sign produced an “X” or “star” form diffraction sample, which emanated from the intense flare website in AIA 131 Å emission. This diffraction sample is an artifact of the telescope digital camera; it didn’t truly happen on the solar.
9. X3.48 — Could 15
That is the primary of 4 photo voltaic flares on this checklist to have originated from photo voltaic lively area AR 13664.
AR 13664 was a well-known extremely productive lively area, producing 12 X-class photo voltaic flares in simply six days. The Could 15 flare was the ultimate X-class flare seen from Earth, and it could have measured greater if it had not already been partly obscured by the western fringe of the solar.
Because the lively area rotated across the again of the solar and reemerged into view two weeks later, it continued to supply giant flares (beneath a brand new lively area quantity). Observations from the European House Company’s Photo voltaic Orbiter additionally revealed giant flares from the area through the interval it was hidden from Earth’s view.
8. X3.98 — Could 10
This photo voltaic flare additionally originated from lively area AR 13664. The flare produced a powerful Earth-directed CME — one in all a number of to launch inside a 48-hour window. The CME erupted from the right location on the solar to trigger most influence on Earth.
Because the collection of CMEs arrived at our planet on Could 11-12, they produced a G5 geomagnetic storm — the strongest geomagnetic storm since 2003. This resulted in widespread auroras at low latitudes that have been seen by tens of millions internationally.
7. X4.52 – Could 6
One other flare earlier in Could was launched from lively area AR 13663 — one lively area decrease than the supply of the 2 flares above. Whereas AR 13664 was busy producing eruptive flares within the solar’s southern hemisphere, AR 13663 unleashed a collection of X-class photo voltaic flares from the northern hemisphere. Most of those flares, together with this Could 6 occasion, didn’t produce notable Earth-directed coronal mass ejections.
6. X4.54 — Sept. 14
This photo voltaic flare produced a powerful CME, directed over the solar’s japanese limb. For flares round this magnitude and above, you possibly can discover the pixel saturation overflowing into neighboring pixels and producing periodic sharp and jagged saturation options that bleed out above and beneath the intense flare website.
5. X5.89 — Could 11
Similar to the flare on Could 6, this occasion originated in AR 13664. This flare additionally produced a coronal mass ejection, which fashioned a part of the chain of CMEs that contributed to the acute and long-duration G5 geomagnetic storm geared toward Earth.
As a result of the Could 11 flare occurred nearer to the limb than the sooner flare from the identical lively area, it was barely much less optimally positioned to influence us head-on.
4. X6.37 – Feb. 22
Not all robust photo voltaic flares are fascinating. Though this one clocked in at X6.37, it didn’t produce any Earth-directed CMEs and was not significantly noteworthy.
3. X7.10 — Oct. 1
This flare is one in all two on this checklist to originate from lively area AR 13842, alongside the strongest flare on the checklist.
Neither of the 2 strongest flares from this lively area directed robust geomagnetic storms at Earth. Nonetheless, smaller X-class flares from this similar lively area later went on to launch the CMEs answerable for a powerful G4 geomagnetic storm on Oct. 10, which once more induced widespread low-latitude auroras internationally.
This can be a good lesson to recollect: Photo voltaic flare dimension is simply weakly correlated with the potential for a flare-induced CME to create robust auroras. Within the case of this lively area, the bigger flares had a smaller geomagnetic influence than the smaller flares did.
2. X8.79 — Could 14
That is the fourth and remaining flare on this checklist from lively area AR 13664, which has been by far probably the most X-class-productive lively area throughout this photo voltaic cycle (thus far). Nonetheless, in contrast to the earlier flares to erupt from this area, the Could 14 flare was confined, with out a vital eruption. Due to this, the bodily dimension of the flare seems small, regardless of the robust X-ray emission.
1. X9.0 — Oct. 3
Lastly, the largest flare of the yr thus far produced an unlimited quantity of power — 9 instances the quantity wanted to cross the X-class-flare threshold. This was the third-largest photo voltaic flare since 2011 and the fifth-largest since 2005.
Will this be the strongest photo voltaic flare we see in Photo voltaic Cycle 25? As photo voltaic most continues into 2025, we’ll have to attend and see.
