Regarding solar flares, all your concerns are addressed at once

The National Space Weather Monitoring and Early Warning Center issued a solar flare information alert: At 14:35 Beijing time on May 6, 2024, the sun erupted a strong flare (X4.5 level).

What exactly are solar flares? And what impact will they have on the Earth and human life? We have interviewed experts and integrated information from various sources to reveal the "energy fireworks show" on the surface of the sun.

Q1: What is a solar flare?

A: In layman's terms, a solar flare is an activity phenomenon in which a local area on the surface of the sun suddenly emits strong light, accompanied by a large amount of energy release in a short period of time.

Q2: Why do solar flares occur?

A: Solar flares are one of the violent explosions in the solar atmosphere. The solar atmosphere is full of magnetic fields. When there is too much magnetic energy in the magnetic field, it will release energy through solar activity, which can be called a magnetic energy explosion. Therefore, some people also call solar flares an "energy fireworks show" on the surface of the sun.

Illustration of a solar flare with a coronal mass ejection

Q3: What does a strong flare (X4.5 level) mean?

A: Currently, internationally, flares are divided into five levels: A, B, C, M, and X, according to the magnitude of the peak flow of soft X-rays. The energy between each level differs by ten times.

The energy of an X-class flare may be equivalent to the energy of billions or even tens of billions of hydrogen bombs exploding.

Q4: What impact will the “energy fireworks show” on the surface of the sun have on the earth?

A: Generally speaking, Class X is the strongest level of flare, which will affect the Earth's ionosphere on the sunward side and have an impact on some industries that rely on shortwave communications.

Solar flare eruptions may affect the safe operation of spacecraft such as space stations, space shuttles, and satellites.

When the electromagnetic radiation released by solar flares enters the power system, it may cause power system failure.

Ionospheric disturbances and high-energy particle flows caused by solar flares may also affect the positioning accuracy of GPS.

Of course, flares also bring beautiful auroras.

This is the aurora taken in the small town of Selfoss in southern Iceland in the early morning of February 14. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying

Q5: Will solar flares have any impact on our bodies?

A: It depends on the location of the explosion on the sun, the level of the explosion, etc. However, only a small part of the solar radiation energy reaches the earth. The earth's magnetic field helps us block most of the high-energy particle flow brought by the solar explosion, and the radiation that directly reaches the human body is very small. Therefore, solar flares have almost no effect on the health of ordinary people.

However, during a flare, the accompanying high-energy particle flow may affect astronauts on the International Space Station, requiring additional protective measures.

Q6: Why is the sun so active in 2024? How should we respond?

A: Solar activity shows a cycle of about 11 years. We are currently experiencing the high annual stage of the 25th solar activity cycle.

my country's advanced space-based solar observatory "Kuafu-1", "Xihe" satellite, and "Meridian Project" are all monitoring and warning solar activities, improving the corresponding emergency management mechanism, and continuously improving the space environment monitoring and weather warning capabilities. During special periods, communication systems, aircraft routes or satellite orbits can be adjusted in a timely manner to minimize the impact of solar activities.

Planning: Yan Dong, Wang Wenyuan

Reporter: Wang Wenyuan, Wang Yuxuan

Expert support: Liu Yong, Ambassador of China's Space Science Popularization, Director of the Science Popularization Committee of the Chinese Society of Space Science, Researcher of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Science Popularization China

Xinhua News Agency Client

Chinese Society of Space Science

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