Sunspot 1261 Erupted M 9.3 CME M9.3 Class Solar Flares Toward Earth May Cause Power Outage
on August 4th, 2011 at 8:00 PMHere’s an update on the current solar flare activities caused by sunspot 1261 in the last 5 days.
To view previous post about how solar flares may cause mass power outage and what people are doing to prepare for it, Click Here!
It all started on July 30, 2011 when sunspot 1261 blasted a brief but powerful M9-class solar flare directly towards Earth.
On Tuesday, August 2, 2011, sunspot 1261 erupted again, producing a much longer M1-class solar flare towards Earth. This blast of coronal mass ejection (CME) at a speed of ~900 km/s expected to reach Earth on August 5, 2011.
By Wednesday, August 3, 2011, another eruption occurred from sunspot 1261, directed towards Earth. Scientists are expecting a double-strike of CMEs on approximately August 4, 2011, 22:39 (Universal Time or UT) +- 7 hrs.
As of today, August 4, 2011, another powerful solar flare erupted from sunspot 1261, this time registered as M9.3-class, also directed towards Earth with CMEs travelling at approximately 1950 km/s. Scientists believe this CME will cover up the earlier CMEs along its path towards Earth, which may cause strong geomagnetic storms to reach Earth on August 5, 2011, at 13:55 (Universal Time or UT) +- 7 hours. Analysts at the GSFC Space Weather Lab say, “The impact on Earth is likely to be major. The estimated maximum geomagnetic activity index level Kp is 7 (Kp ranges from 0 – 9). The flanks of the CME may also impact STEREO A, Mars and Mercury/MESSENGER.”
Should you worry about solar flares causing power outage?
Should you worry about sunspot 1261?
Should you worry about CME geomagnetic storms?
You decide!
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