Sun Released Massive Flare on August 9

Solar physicists say that the Sun released its most powerful solar flare in four years yesterday, August 9. The class-X6.9 event was so intense that it briefly knocked out HF communications, but the full effects of the event will most likely not be felt on Earth.

The eruption itself was not aimed at our planet, which means that we will not be drenched in high volumes of radiations and highly-energetic particles. Even if we were in the emission clouds' path, our magnetosphere would have most likely absorbed most of the event's devastating impact.

According to experts, the solar flare began at around 3:48 am EDT (0748 GMT) on Tuesday, and reached X status extremely fast. There are three classes of solar flares, ranked according to intensity. C-class events are weak, M-class ones are of medium intensity, and X-class flares are the most dangerous.

A quick look at available data on the Sun during the current solar cycle reveals that yesterday's event was the most intense to occur yet. The cycle we're in right now began in 2008, and will end in 2020.

“It was a big flare. We lucked out because the site of the eruption at the Sun was not facing the Earth, so we will probably feel no ill effects,” explains US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) space scientist Joe Kunches.

However, as the star approaches the peak of its current cycle, in 2013, it is very likely that events such as this one will be recorded increasingly often. The closer the Sun gets to a maximum, the more intense its activity becomes, Space reports.

“This flare had a GOES X-ray magnitude of X6.9, meaning it was more than 3 times larger than the previous largest flare of this solar cycle – the X2.2 that occurred on Feb 15, 2011,” an update by experts managing the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory reads.

The SDO, alongside spacecraft such as SOHO and STEREO, is responsible for monitoring the Sun at all times. These instruments act as a early warning system, alerting us if a solar flare is heading our way. This gives authorities time to prepare in case something goes wrong.

“Because of its position the [coronal mass ejection] CME is going to shoot out into space and not be Earth-directed, and we don’t expect any big geomagnetic storm with this. We did luck out. If this would have happened a week ago, who knows?” Kunches adds.

Other solar physicists say that the flank of solar particle emission could hit Earth around Thursday, August 11, but only in passing, and without causing any long-lasting effects. Satellite in orbit and the International Space Station are unlikely to be affected by the event.