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From Science:
Our sun has really got a flair for flares lately. The third solar flare in two days peaked at 11:03 a.m. Eastern time Friday, and it was ranked as an X2.1. Solar flares come in classifications according to their x-ray brightness: C, M, and X (in order of increasing intensity). A previous flare came at this morning at 4:01 am Eastern time, which was an X1.7-an X2 is twice as intense as an X1. Flares of the X-class variety are known to cause radio degradation or blackouts. These were both, clearly, more intense than the M-class flare we wrote about yesterday. This week, NASA also released a video (below) taken in late September. The video depicts a 200,000 mile-long solar material filament that "rips through" the corona, leaving behind a (not-scary-at-all-sounding) canyon of fire. But let it be known, NASA concedes that no, the sun is not actually made of fire, but rather plasma.
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Re: What's Going On With the Sun This Week?
