Sun Unleashes Major Flare (Robert Roy Britt)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

Robert Roy Britt -- Space.com

Dec. 5, 2006 -- The Sun is just past its low-point in an 11-year cycle of activity. But big eruptions can happen anytime.

One just did.

A major X-9 flare erupted this morning [image]. It emanated from a large sunspot, numbered 929, which is just coming into view around the eastern limb of the Sun.

The flare was directed away from Earth. But this sunspot will rotate toward the center of the Sun over the next few days and could offer up more major blasts, forecasters say.

Sunspots are dark regions of the Sun where intense magnetic activity caps the upwelling of material from below. Sometimes the caps blow, and a visible flare results. The flares are loaded with X-rays and other radiation, all of which reaches Earth moments after the eruption. Many are accompanied by clouds of electrified gas called coronal mass ejections, which can reach Earth a day or so later.