by Scientists are keeping an eye on a sunspot that fired an X-class rocket while “having an identity crisis”, according to SpaceWeather.com.
Auroras are possible if a coronal mass ejection of charged particles emerges from the “mixed” sunspot AR3006, which aimed its burst toward Earth on Tuesday (May 10) at 9:55 am EDT (1355 GMT).
The explosion was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory camera and prompted a radio emission alert by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), amid a reported shortwave radio blackout in the Atlantic Ocean region.
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AR3006’s polarity is the reverse of what scientists expect, which makes the sunspot “interesting and dangerous,” SpaceWeather.com said. (The polarity of sunspots is governed by the current solar cycle.) “If AR3006 explodes today, it will be geoeffective. The sunspot faces directly toward Earth,” the website added.
According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which monitors solar flares and other outbursts, a coronal mass ejection (CME) could follow today’s eruption. CMEs are massive explosions of solar material expelled by the sun, and scientists can predict whether one of them will follow an eruption based on the radio signature. At around 12 pm EDT (1700 GMT), the agency said a CME “may be likely”, awaiting further observations.
In general, auroras can happen if a CME crosses our planet’s magnetic field lines. Typically, the result is a harmless show of the sky as atmospheric molecules of gas glow.
Today’s flare has been classified as an X1.5 class event, making it the weak side of the stronger flare category. The sun shot off several blasts with roughly the same force last month, along with a bunch of moderately sized flares. The sun’s peak activity is expected to occur in 2025, but there are numerous sunspots on its surface right now.
More rarely, CMEs can cause problems in effective infrastructure such as power lines and satellites, which is why scientists keep an eye on space weather through countless missions looking at our sun.
Both NASA and NOAA monitor the sun at all times; In addition, NASA operates the Parker Solar Probe mission, which periodically gets very close to our sun to understand how its superheated outer atmosphere affects solar flares and other phenomena.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or in Facebook.
