The Sun has released another strong flare, strong enough to cause a radio blackout report in the US.
NASA and the Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced that an X3.3-class flare erupted from the Sun at 03:57 UTC on 24 October 2024.
'X' denotes that this is one of the strongest types of solar flare that can occur.
"Flares happen when the powerful magnetic fields in and around the Sun reconnect," says NASA.
They're a symptom of high activity on the surface of the Sun, which is currently being observed as the Sun reaches the peak of the so-called Solar Cycle.
The Solar Cycle is the name given to the 11-year period of peak and trough that sees our host star go from quiet and inactive to very much active, producing dynamic features such as sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
In fact, solar scientists announced on 15 October 2024 that the Sun had officially reached the peak of the current cycle, Solar Cycle 25.
That's why we're seeing more frequent and intense space weather and displays of the aurora, as the Sun's solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field.
This is what led to the huge aurora display of May 2024 and the aurora display of October 2024.
Aurora on the way?
So does the solar flare of 24 October 2024 mean we can look forward to another weekend of strong aurora displays across the globe?
Unfortunately not.
While the Space Weather Predication Center reported a "strong radio blackout" as a result of the flare from Sunspot Region 3869, there are currently no strong aurora alerts in place.
And the UK's Met Office says "the strong X3.3 flare produced a coronal mass ejection that has been assessed as a likely miss, passing behind Earth, though some Earth-directed component is possible from shock possibly arriving 26 or 27 Oct."
And any delayed impact on Earth is likely to be a "minor-moderate geomagnetic storm", the Met Office said.
The free aurora alert service, AuroraWatchUK, run by Lancaster University in the UK, is also noting "no significant activity".
There are multiple ways to predict when aurora will occur, so if you're interested in catching the next display, be sure to follow aurora alert groups on social media and sign up to receive notifications.
