Three Days, Three X-Flares

Three Days, Three X-Flares

Today (Oct. 26), for the third day in a row, Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X-class solar flare. The X2-category blast came from giant sunspot AR2192, shown here in a Sunday morning sunrise photo from Jean-Baptiste Feldmann of Nuits-Saint-Georges, France:

 

Recapping the rapid-fire flares: There was an X3 on Oct. 24th (2140 UT), an X1 on Oct 25th (1709 UT), and an X2 on Oct. 22nd (1059 UT). All three of these explosions produced strong HF radio blackouts over the dayside of Earth. In each case, communications were disturbed over a wide area for approximately one hour. Such blackouts may be noticed by amateur radio operators, aviators, and mariners.

Usually, strong flares are acompanied by massive CMEs--billion-ton clouds of electrified gas that billow away from tthe blast site. So far, however, none of the eruptions from AR2192 has produced a major CME. Without a series of CMEs to rattle our planet's magnetic field, there have been no geomagnetic storms nor any widespread auroras. Earth-effects have been limited to radio blackouts.