The sun just erupted an X-class flare. What impact will it have on the earth?

X-flares are the most powerful solar flares.

The day before yesterday, NASA released an image of a solar flare eruption, which was said to be an "X-class" flare eruption. It reached its peak at 3:35 pm Eastern Time on March 30. The image of this event was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which was constantly observing the sun.

my country's Fengyun-3E satellite also clearly recorded the outburst, and all the outburst activities were concentrated on sunspot 12975.

X-class flares are the most powerful solar eruptions, and are seen as bright flashes in the upper corner of this image. Shock waves from the flare can be seen rippling across the 1.4 million-kilometer-wide solar surface. This hot material emits extreme ultraviolet light, which is yellow and visible to the human eye.

When a flare erupts, the electromagnetic waves emitted, from gamma rays and X-rays to radio waves several kilometers long, will be enhanced in all bands. Various particle streams ranging from 10,000 electron volts to 1 billion electron volts will also be ejected, forming a solar storm that violently blows into space. If it reflects towards the earth, it will sweep across the earth.

The timing of this eruption is a rare eruption event in recent years. Since March 29, there have been more than 20 consecutive eruptions, including more than 11 C-class small flares, more than 6 M-class medium flares, and an X-class large flare on the 30th, accompanied by a large amount of coronal mass ejection, forming a strong solar wind impact.

During a solar flare, various optical rays, such as X-rays, travel at the speed of light and take only 500 seconds to reach the Earth. High-energy proton streams take only 1 to 2 hours to reach the Earth. High-intensity solar wind (charged particle stream) travels at a speed of more than 800 kilometers per second, so it takes 1 to 2 days to reach the Earth.

These solar energies will impact the Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere. It is these armors that protect the humans and creatures on Earth. However, the disturbance caused by the impact of solar energy will cause changes in the electromagnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms and ionospheric storms, which will affect human aerospace vehicles, communications, navigation, etc. In severe cases, it will also affect the climate, increase the amount of radiation on the surface, and cause harm to organisms.

A relatively obvious phenomenon observable with the naked eye these days is that the auroras at the North and South Poles will be brighter and more colorful. This is the result of the charged particles of the solar wind invading from the weak points of the Earth's magnetic field at the poles and the game between the particles in the Earth's atmosphere and the charged particles of the solar wind.

All things grow with the help of the sun. Without the sun, there would be nothing on Earth. However, the current technological level of human beings is still relatively low. If the sun, which is 330,000 times more massive than the Earth, makes a slight movement, human beings will be impacted. If there is a major explosion, human beings will suffer an extinction-threatening blow.

Therefore, studying and observing the sun, taking precautions against disasters from the sun through forecasts, and even being able to prevent these disasters in the future is the goal of human scientific development and a condition for the long-term survival of mankind.

Currently, the Parker Solar Probe (pictured above) launched by NASA is braving the high temperatures in the sun's hot corona, orbiting the sun and observing, and has discovered many new secrets of the sun. In 2021, my country also successfully launched the first solar exploration scientific and technological experimental satellite "Xihe".

Hopefully, these observational discoveries will enable humans to better utilize the sun's energy and prevent solar disasters.

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