Sunspot region AR3697, which recently appeared on the Sun, released a powerful flare. It has already caused problems on Earth, causing short-term radio outages in Western Europe and the eastern United States, according to Space.com.
As reported by the space tracking site SpaceWeather, on May 31, a magnetic storm is expected on the planet. She will be caused by coronal mass ejection (KVM), which separated from the sun together with a flash and will reach the Earth.
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Space.com points out that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen emissions from AR3697, as the region is a returned version of the AR3664 sunspot. She was responsible for the most powerful magnetic storm in the G5 category in recent years.
Since then, the spot has “turned away” from us, moving to the far side of the sun. But now it has returned again and has become visible on the eastern edge of the star. And not alone.
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The sun is covered in spots right now. One particularly challenging region of AR3691 faces Earth. According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, it is possible that regions AR3697 and AR369 could emit flares until May 31. They are likely to throw more X-class flares, the most powerful.
Scientists are keeping a close eye on AR3697, as it is expected to move through the sun’s disk and head toward Earth in the coming days. It can become a source of new CVMs that will cause magnetic storms on our planet.
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Strong electromagnetic radiation flares that come from sunspots on the surface of the sun are known as solar flares. They are divided into groups, which are indicated by letters. X-flashes are the most powerful. Within each group, flashes are numbered from 1 to 10.
Earlier, scientists stated that it is possible to say for sure whether the peak of solar activity has arrived only seven months after its end.
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