The Sun entered the year 2020 in its 25th cycle and scientists expected this new cycle to be like the 24th, very quiet. However, the Sun appears to be waking up from the silent period of its 11-year cycle and is “wild.” After triggering a coronal mass ejection in late January that caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth, even destroying dozens of satellites, it has now shown its fury with a huge solar flare captured by Solar Orbiter.
According to ESA, this eruption, captured by the spacecraft, was the largest seen to date. Is the Earth in danger?
The sun is “wild”
Supposedly, this 25th solar cycle should be fluid, but it was suspected that it wouldn’t be like the previous cycle, which happened between 2008 and 2019. As the space agency noted, the image is impressive and shows the solar flare extending millions of miles into space.
ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft captured the largest solar flare ever seen in a single image with the entire solar disk. Solar prominences are large structures of tangled magnetic field lines that contain dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the surface of the Sun, sometimes taking the form of arcs of arcs.
As mentioned many times, these are often associated with coronal mass ejections which, if directed at Earth, can wreak havoc on our technology and daily lives.
This latest event took place on February 15 and spanned millions of miles in space. The coronal mass ejection was not directed towards Earth. In fact, it travels far from us. There is no flare signature in the solar disk facing the spacecraft.
The captured solar flare impresses!
The images were captured by the Full Sun Imager (FSI) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on Solar Orbiter. The FSI is designed to observe the entire solar disk even during close passes of the Sun, such as during the upcoming perihelion pass next month.
At closest approach on March 26, the spacecraft will pass regarding 0.3 times the Sun-Earth distance. Thus, the Sun will occupy a much larger part of the telescope’s field of view. At the moment, there’s still plenty of “viewing margin” around the disc, allowing the FSI to capture stunning detail from around 3.5 million kilometers away, or the equivalent of five times the radius of the Sun.
Thus, the image made now by Solar Orbiter is unprecedented, because it provides a unique field of vision with the solar disk. Other space missions also attended the event, including NASA’s Parker Solar probe. The added records open up new study possibilities.
In the statement, ESA pointed out that:
Although this event did not send a burst of deadly particles towards Earth, it is an important reminder of the unpredictable nature of the Sun and the importance of understanding and monitoring its behavior.
This is one more record to add to the many that make up the story told by humanity of its star, which is already 4.5 billion years old. So you’re regarding halfway through your life.