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Billions of light years away, there is a giant ball of hot gas that is brighter than hundreds of billions of suns. It is hard to imagine something so bright. So what is it? Astronomers are not really sure, but they have a couple theories. They think it may be a very rare type of supernova — called a magnetar — but one so powerful that it pushes the energy limits of physics, or in other words, the most powerful supernova ever seen as of today. This object is so luminous that astronomers are having a really difficult time finding...

More than 2,600 years ago, strange red clouds over Mesopotamia drew the attention of soothsayers across the land. Their royal reports have now helped confine the date of a severe solar storm that washed over the planet. Based on readings of carbon isotopes trapped in tree rings deposited around that time, astronomers already suspected there was a period of intense solar activity around the middle of the 7th century BC... And it seemed like it had pretty far-ranging effects. Earlier in the year, geologists reported similar signs of a storm from around this period in traces of radioactive particles buried...

X1.9 Solar Flare January 9 2023 An X1.9 class solar flare flashes on the left edge of the Sun on January 9, 2023. This image was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and shows a blend of light from the 171, 131, and 304 angstrom wavelengths. Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO ******************************************************** The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 1:50 p.m. EST on January 9, 2023. Imagery of the event was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly watches the Sun. Solar flares are intense explosions of energy that can disrupt radio communications, damage power grids, and affect navigation signals....

A mysterious shock wave in a gust of solar wind has sent a barrage of high-speed material smashing into Earth’s magnetic field, opening up a crack in the magnetosphere. The barrage of plasma could lead to a geomagnetic storm today (Dec. 19), according to spaceweather.com. The shockwave’s origins aren’t exactly known, but scientists think it could have come from a coronal mass ejection launched by the sunspot AR3165, a fizzing region on the sun’s surface that released a flurry of at least eight solar flares on Dec. 14, causing a brief radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean. Sunspots are areas...

In December 2021, a massive blast of energy hit the Earth’s atmosphere. Its source was a gamma-ray burst – one of the most powerful explosions in the universe – but not just any gamma ray burst. One scientist said at the time that the event – named GRB 211211A – “looks unlike anything else we have seen before The event was detected in December 2021 by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray burst was significantly longer than average, which might normally suggest it had been produced by the collapse of a massive star...

The coronal hole is a gigantic solar gulf stretching across the sun’s center. Coronal holes are areas in the sun's upper atmosphere where our star's electrified gas (or plasma) is less hot and dense than in other regions, which makes them appear black in contrast. Around these holes,the sun's magnetic field lines, instead of looping back in on themselves, point outward into space, beaming solar material outwards at up to 1.8 million mph (2.9 million km/h)... This barrage of energetic solar debris, mostly consisting of electrons, protons and alpha particles, is absorbed by Earth’s magnetic field, which becomes compressed, triggering...

On Nov. 3 a solar storm caused a temporary crack in Earth's magnetic field. The resulting hole enabled energetic particles to penetrate deep into the planet's atmosphere and set off extremely rare pink auroras. An explosion of extremely rare pink auroras recently lit up the night sky above Norway after a solar storm slammed into Earth and ripped a hole in the planet's magnetic field. The breach enabled highly energetic solar particles to penetrate deeper into the atmosphere than normal, triggering the unusual colored lights. The stunning light show was spotted Nov. 3 by a tour group led by Markus...

A medium-intensity solar flare hit the Earth's magnetosphere in the early hours of Monday, Spaceweather.com reported. It is unlikely that a coronal discharge will follow the solar activity, and if it does, whether will head toward Earth. The recent solar flare came from the sunspot AR 3141, which has grown in size in the past 24 hours, EarthSky.org said in its report. The eruption was classified as an M5.2, even where M denotes the class of solar flares and is a medium-intensity eruption. In comparison, classes A, B, and C are low-intensity events, while Class X flares are wildly the...

Named Miyake events after the lead author of the first study to describe them, the spikes occur roughly once every 1,000 years or so and are recorded as sudden increases in the radiocarbon levels of ancient tree rings. The leading theory among scientists is that Miyake events are solar flares that are 80 times more powerful than the strongest flare ever recorded. But a new study...suggests that the origin of the radiation bursts could be even more mysterious than first thought. Scientists have spotted six Miyake events in tree rings so far, indicated by sudden, single-year leaps in the concentrations...

Initially dubbed Swift J1913.1+1946...now re-named GRB221009A. 2.4 billion light-years away...18 teraelectronvolts. [T]hough this proximity happens to be 20 times closer than the average long gamma-ray burst, it poses absolutely no danger to life on Earth. Rather, it's tremendously exciting – an event that could These bursts mark the end of the life of a massive star – a supernova or hypernova. They can also emerge from a collision between two neutron stars. Different gamma-ray burst profiles mean different kinds of explosions, which fade in different ways. When astronomers observed a collision between two neutron stars in 2017, it produced a...

Yes, it could happen, but it would take a giant solar storm... Solar storms...occur when the sun releases an intense burst of electromagnetic radiation. This disturbance throws off waves of energy that travel outward, impacting other bodies in the solar system, including Earth. When the wayward electromagnetic waves interact with Earth's own magnetic field, they have a couple of effects. The first is that they cause electric currents to flow in Earth's upper atmosphere, heating the air...These geomagnetic storms can create beautiful auroras to appear over polar regions, but they can also disrupt radio signals and GPS. What's more, as...

Yet another series of solar flares(opens in new tab) series shimmied out from the sun on Friday (Aug. 26) after a dazzling show of green-hued auroras(opens in new tab) crashed through the atmosphere just days ago. "Sunspot AR3089 is crackling with a series of intensifying M-class [moderate] solar flares," SpaceWeather.com(opens in new tab) said in a Friday update. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an especially powerful flare at 7:16 a.m. EDT (1116 GMT) as populations in Europe and Africa experienced a brief radio blackout. A huge ejection of charged particles from the sun(opens in new tab), known as a coronal...

A massive sunspot has been spotted on our sun that looks directly at Earth The sunspot doubled in size over just a 24-hour period Experts say it could possibly send out medium-class flares in the near future. A dark sunspot that is facing directly toward Earth doubled in size in just a 24-hour period and could possibly send out medium-class flares in the near future. Tony Phillips, the author of SpaceWeather.com, wrote on Wednesday: ‘Yesterday, sunspot AR3038 was big. Today, it's enormous.’ And it is now said to measure three times the size of Earth.

A HUGE sunspot which doubled in size over a 24-hour period is now directly facing Earth, meaning a large solar flare could strike the planet. The sunspot, known as AR3038, doubled in size between Sunday and Monday night. Now, it has turned to face the Earth, sparking concerns that rapid solar winds could pelt towards the Blue Planet. And stunning footage from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on Sunday shows how the huge sunspot has been evolving. Experts at Spaceweather.com explained: "Yesterday, sunspot AR3038 was big. "Today, it's enormous. The fast-growing sunspot has doubled in size in only 24 hours. "AR3038...

The sunspot that has been growing in size recently is known as AR3038. Footage from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on Sunday shows how the sunspot has evolved over the past day or so, twisting and contorting. "Yesterday, sunspot AR3038 was big. Today, it's enormous," reads the SpaceWeather.com website. "The fast-growing sunspot has doubled in size in only 24 hours." The magnetic field associated with the sunspot means it could potentially send an M-class solar flare at Earth—the second-strongest type. However, it is not known whether this will be the case. As of Monday morning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's...

The explosion comes courtesy of a dead sunspot called AR2987.... The sunspot explosion released loads of energy in the form of radiation, which also led to a coronal mass ejection (CME) — explosive balls of solar material — both of which could spur more intense northern lights in Earth's upper atmosphere. The material in that CME is likely to impact Earth on April 14... The idea of a "dead" sunspot is more poetic than scientific, said Philip Judge, a solar physicist at the High Altitude Observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), but the convection of the sun...

A powerful solar storm is set to hit Earth on Thursday (March 31) with spectacular aurora displays accompanying it after the sun fired nearly 20 flares from a single sunspot in just two days. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that two coronal mass ejections (CMEs), spat out from the overactive sunspot AR2975, on Monday (March 28), are heading toward our planet and might trigger a geomagnetic storm rated as G3 on NOAA's five-point scale.

Just days after the Sun blasted Earth with an M-Class solar flare which created an unexpected G1-Class Geomagnetic Storm, the sun erupted another M-class solar flare towards the Earth earlier today. Today’s flare blasted the Earth with X-rays and UV radiation, triggering a shortwave radio black out over portions of the globe. On Saturday, NOAA forecasters said there was a risk of additional solar flares through today and as predicted, it occured. While Saturday’s solar flare erupted from sunspot Active Region-2911; today’s flare came from Active Regions 2908. In a statement released by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center today, they...

NASA satellites have observed a large sunspot forming on the surface of the Sun. The sunspot is twice as wide as Earth and it is facing away from us, for now. However, as Earth moves around the host star, the sunspot could fire a solar flare right at us. Astronomy site Space Weather said: “A new sunspot is emerging over the sun’s northeastern limb, and it’s a big one. “The sunspot’s primary core is twice as wide as Earth, and it is accompanied by two Moon-sized companion spots – dimensions which make it an easy target for amateur solar telescopes....

The sunspot, known as AR3085, has also been shooting off several minor solar flares, though nothing strong enough to be disruptive on Earth. The sunspot, known as AR3085, has also been shooting off several minor solar flares, though nothing strong enough to be disruptive on Earth. Sunspots are regions on the sun where magnetic fields are so intense that some heat is prevented from reaching the sun's surface. As such, sunspots may appear as dark patches. Due to the intense magnetic fields, sunspots are known sources of solar activity. When these magnetic field lines suddenly shift, a vast amount of...