CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The sun unleashed its most powerful flare in nearly a decade on Tuesday, following a series of severe solar storms that recently hit Earth and created stunning northern lights in unexpected locations.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced, "Not done yet!" indicating the sun's continued activity. This flare, the biggest of this 11-year solar cycle approaching its peak, according to NOAA, erupted from a part of the sun moving away from Earth, so Earth should not be affected this time.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the bright flash of the X-ray flare, the strongest since 2005, rated at X8.7 on the flare scale.
Bryan Brasher at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, suggested that the flare might have been even stronger, pending analysis of data from other sources.
This event follows nearly a week of intense solar activity, including flares and mass ejections of coronal plasma that threatened to disrupt power and communications on Earth and in orbit.
NASA reported that the weekend geomagnetic storm caused one of its environmental satellites to unexpectedly rotate due to reduced altitude from space weather, prompting it to enter a protective hibernation mode. At the International Space Station, astronauts were advised to seek shelter in areas with strong radiation shielding, although they were never in imminent danger, according to NASA.
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