Category: - Ascension Now

X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE:

28/3/2025

Surprising forecasters, today the sun produced a dramatic X1.1-class solar flare (March 28th @ 1520 UTC) with a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed massive plumes of plasma emerging from the blast site:

The source of the flare is a new sunspot emerging over the sun's eastern limb. This sunspot will turn toward Earth in the days ahead, putting our planet in the crosshairs of future eruptions. Stay tuned!
https://spaceweather.com/

THE SUN IS X-FLARING:

5/1/2025

Sunspot AR3947 is sizzling with activity. Since Friday it has produced three X-class solar flares and multiple strong M-flares. NOAA's GOES-16 satellite recorded the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray flashes:

Each flare has produced a shortwave radio blackout on Earth. Almost all longitudes of our planet have experienced intermittent loss of signal below 20 MHz during local daylight hours. Because of these flares, long-distance propagation has been unreliable.
Remarkably, no significant CMEs have emerged. These explosions have not lifted much material out of the sun's atmosphere. Future blasts may behave differently, however, and the activity shows no sign of abating as the sunspot turns toward Earth. Stay tuned!
https://spaceweather.com/

THE SUN IS FLARING:

31/12/2024

The sun is crackling with solar flares. In the last 48 hours alone it has produced an X-flare, a double X-flare (pictured below), and more than a dozen M-class solar flares:

Repeated pulses of extreme ultraviolet radiation have ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, creating a series of shortwave radio blackouts rolling around all longitudes of our planet. Global ham radio transmissions below 20 MHz have not been very reliable for the last two days.
More flares are in the offing. There are currently five sunspots on the solar disk with mixed-polarity magnetic fields capable of producing M-to-X-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of additional X-flares on Dec. 31st.
https://spaceweather.com/

PROTONS ARE RAINING DOWN ON EARTH:

29/10/2024

For the 3rd day in a row, energetic protons are raining down on Earth. It's an S2-class radiation storm. The protons were accelerated by X-class solar flares on Oct. 24th and 26th. As a result of the storm, a shortwave radio blackout is underway inside the Arctic Circle, and cameras on spacecraft are being fogged. Indeed, most of the speckles in the SOHO coronagraph movie highlighted below are solar protons hitting the camera. This could continue for at least another 24 hours.
https://spaceweather.com/

THE STRONGEST FLARE YET (UPDATED AGAIN):

4/10/2024

Sunspot AR3842 exploded again on Oct. 3rd, producing the strongest solar flare of Solar Cycle 25 so far. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the X9.1-category blast:

Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere and caused a deep shortwave blackout over Africa and the South Atlantic. Ham radio operators in the area may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as a half an hour after 12:18 UTC.
The explosion also produced a halo CME. Now that a full set of images has arrived from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), it's clear that the CME is potent. NOAA forecasts of a strong geomagnetic storm when it arrives on Oct. 6th are probably correct.
https://spaceweather.com/

SIGNIFICANT X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE:

2/10/2024

Fast-growing sunspot AR3842 erupted on Oct 1st (2220 UT), producing the second-strongest solar flare of Solar Cycle 25. The X7.1-category blast caused a shortwave radio blackout over Hawaii and hurled a CME into space. A preliminary NASA model predicts it will hit Earth on Oct. 5th. Stay tuned for the geomagnetic storm forecast.

Above: An X7.1-class solar flare on Oct. 1, 2024. Credit: NASA/SDO
https://spaceweather.com/

STRONG SOLAR FLARE:

1/10/2024

The quiet has ended. Earlier today, sunspot AR3842 produced an M7.6-class solar flare (movie) and a shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean. AR3842 has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for even stronger X-class flares.
https://spaceweather.com/

ANOTHER X-FLARE:

29/5/2024

Old sunspot AR3664 (now AR3697) isn't as big as it used to be, but it is still very active. Today at 1437 UT, it produced an X1.4-class solar flare:

Note: The jiggling of the sun in this movie is not caused by the X-flare.
Calibration offsets were underway during the flare. Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory.

A lengthy pulse of extreme ultraviolet radiation produced a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal at all frequencies below 30 MHz for 60 to 90 minutes following the onset of the flare.
This explosion was remarkable for its duration. The X-class phase alone lasted more than an hour--plenty of time to lift a CME out of the sun's atmosphere. Indeed, SOHO coronagraphs have detected a bright CME emerging from the blast site: movie. We will find out in the hours ahead whether or not the storm cloud has an Earth-directed component. Stay tuned!
https://spaceweather.com/

"THE FLARES WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES":

16/5/2024

A new source of solar flares is emerging over the sun's southeastern limb. On May 15th (1438 UT), it emitted a dramatic X3-class explosion, shown here in a movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean. Ham radio operators, aviators and mariners may have noticed a sudden loss of signal at all frequencies below 30 MHz.
The source of this flare will rotate over the sun's limb this week, making future explosions more squarely Earth-directed and potentially hurling CMEs in our direction. Stay tuned!
https://spaceweather.com/

EARTH IS CONNECTED TO SUNSPOT AR3664:

15/5/2024

Giant sunspot AR3664 is no longer facing Earth. That makes it extra dangerous. The Carrington-class sunspot is passing over the sun's western limb--a region of the sun that is magnetically connected to our planet. Indeed, we are feeling the effects of that connection right now; take a look at this map of ongoing radio blackouts:

Red zones in the map show where shortwave radio signals are being absorbed. Inside the Arctic Circle, frequencies below 30 MHz are almost completely blacked out, a nuisance for polar aviators and ham radio operators.
What's causing this? Protons accelerated by solar flares in the magnetic canopy of AR3664 are following the Parker Spiral back to Earth. Think of it as a magnetic superhighway. The arriving particles are funneled by our planet's magnetic field toward the poles where they ionize the atmosphere and interfere with the normal transmission of shortwave radio.
This polar cap absorption event could last for days, especially if it is boosted by more flares from AR3664. You can can monitor its progress here.
https://spaceweather.com/

STRONGEST SOLAR FLARE OF THE CURRENT CYCLE:

15/5/2024

Sunspot AR3664 just unleashed the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle--an X8.7-category blast from beyond the sun's western limb. X marks the spot in this image of the flare from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Because the sunspot is behind the edge of the solar disk, the flare was partially eclipsed. It was probably even stronger than it appeared. "X8.7" is almost certainly an underestimate of the flare's true strength.
Extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Ham radio operators, aviators and mariners may have noticed a sudden loss of signal at all frequencies below 30 MHz.
Subatomic debris from this event might soon reach Earth, guided toward our planet by the Parker Spiral. Also, a CME might be in the offing. Stay tuned for updates!
https://spaceweather.com/

Solar Radio Bursts:

11/8/2015

For the past week, solar activity has been low. However, the sun has not been quiet. "I have noted that the sun has been extremely dynamic at shortwave radio wavelengths with almost constant Type III bursting," reports Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico. He has been hearing loud bursts of static coming from the loudspeaker of his amateur radio telescope whenever he points it at the sun. Click here to hear a sample:

Type III solar radio bursts are caused by solar flares. Electrons accelerated by strong flares race through the sun's atmosphere, causing a ripple of plasma waves and radio static. Yet, ironically, there have been no strong solar flares. Nevertheless, suggests Ashcraft, "all of the bursting indicates a lot of magnetic complexity and movement in the sunspots."

The biggest sunspot of all, AR2396, is about to rotate off the western edge of the sun. After it departs, the static might subside. Until then, shortwave radio operators should remain alert for solar bursts. The sun is not so quiet, after all.
www.spaceweather.com

X2-FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT : NASA MISSION

12/3/2015

All week long, sunspot AR2297 has been crackling with solar flares. Yesterday it produced a really big one. On March 11th at 16:22 UT (09:22 PDT), Earth orbiting-satellites detected an X2-class flare. The blast zone was larger than Earth tself:

Later today, March 12th, NASA will launch a fleet of spacecraft to investigate the mystery of magnetic reconnection: On the sun, magnetic field lines cross, cancel, reconnect and—bang! A solar flare explodes. How does the simple act of crisscrossing magnetic fields trigger such a ferocious blast? The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission aims to find out. Get the full story from Science@NASA.
www.spaceweather.com

Mysterious radio burst seen in real time

20/1/2015

Andrew Griffin : The Independent, UK : 19 Jan 2015

© The Independent, UK
The mysterious ‘blitzar’ has been heard since 2007, but scientists have caught it live for the first time.

As live performances go, a mysterious pulse of radio waves emanating from deep in the universe has to be up with the greats. And scientists have finally caught it. The blitzars last only about a millisecond - during which time they give out as much energy as the sun does in a million years, according to the New Scientist - and have only ever been heard on historical data. The source must be "huge, cataclysmic and up to 5.5 billion light years away," one scientist told the New Scientist.

But a team of scientists from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia has identified one of them live, as it happened.

© Swinburne Astronomy Productions
A mysterious "fast radio burst" was seen for the first time in real time by astronomers,
a strange phenomenon whose origins have yet to be discovered, new research finds.
[Pictured: An illustration of CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope receiving the polarized signal from the new 'fast radio burst'.]

Nobody really knows where the blitzars come from - a top contender is a huge neutron star that should have given way to a black hole, but didn't - but the new findings are likely to help scientists find out.

When the blitzar was spotted by a team led by Emily Petroff, other telescopes were turned towards the source, helping to study the aftereffects. They didn't see any afterglow - ruling out some of the possible sources such as a supernova.

Scientists hope that they will soon discover another blitzar in a different frequency range. That will allow them to conclusively associate it with something and will help pin it down to a specific source.
http://www.sott.net/article/291553-Mysterious-radio-burst-seen-in-real-time

X-FLARE:

10/9/2014

Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected a powerful X1.6-class solar flare (Sept. 10 @ 17:46 UT). The source was active sunspot AR2158, which is directly facing Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Ionizing radiation from the flare could cause HF radio blackouts and other communications disturbances, especially on the day-lit side of Earth. In the next few hours, when coronagraph data from SOHO and STEREO become available, we will see if a CME emerges from the blast site. If so, the cloud would likely be aimed directly at Earth and could reach our planet in 2 to 3 days. Stay tuned for updates about geomagnetic storms in the offing. www.spaceweather.com