Sun Activity Picking Up As It Approaches The Peak Of 11 Year Cycle

With all the crazy things going on in our weather over the past 13 months or so, you can add something else.  However, this latest development involves something beyond our atmosphere.  The sun has been sending out solar flares and massive coronal ejections over the past few weeks, and they should continue as our star approaches the peak of its 11 year cycle.

The latest solar flare and coronal ejection occurred a little over a week ago, and the flare did cause a disruption of radio communication.  The flare was classified as an X1.9 flare, which is the most powerful one that the sun can release according to an article on Space.com.   Within a few hours, a coronal ejection occurred on another part of the sun, and headed toward Venus.

A solar flare is defined as a powerful release of energy that brightens the sun, and is often linked with increased magnetic activity on the star.  This latest flare came from a large and very active part of the sun known as AR11339, and is approximately 50,000 miles wide.  More of this kind of activity is expected from the sun, which will reach the peak of its 11 year cycle around 2013.  Within the past two months, there have been other solar flares that have made news. 

Back in late September, there was a solar flare that created an electromagnetic storm which resulted in quite a display of aurora in the higher latitudes according to an article from the Washington Post.   A little more than two weeks ago, another solar flare brought northern lights as far south as the Southeastern United States.  These two instances of solar flares were graded as G1 and G2, but there can be stronger ones.

Some solar flares can be rated as G5 on the high end of the scale.  Those flares are capable of causing significant electromagnetic storms capable of knocking out electricity and affect spacecraft and satellites.  The most notable solar storm was back in 1859.  The storm was so powerful that it provided enough light to read in the middle of the night, and disrupted telegraph service for two days.  Another solar storm in 1921 was only one fourth as powerful as the one in 1859.  However, if the 1921 storm were to occur today, it will knock out power to 130 million people, cost up to $2 trillion in damage, and take 4 to 10 years to recover from.