Three major events were recently observed on the Sun's surface. What might happen to the Earth during the fol, VIDEO

Updated 02/05/2020


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Beginning on Friday, the sun produced the largest flares since April
The strongest of the three, M7.6, peaked at 1:16 am on July 23
Two flares orginated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex
Although the sun is in a period of low activity, it isn’t staying completely quiet.
Over the weekend, the 4.5 billion year old ball of gas produced three mid-strength solar flares that have been deemed the most powerful to occur in 2016.

Captured by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, these flares were classified as M-level flares -- the category just below the most intense X-class flares.

TRIPLE WHAMMY FLARES 

Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory saw the sun produce three mid-strength solar flares that have been deemed the most powerful for 2016 over the weekend.
These flares were classified as M-level flares -- the category just below the most intense X-class flares.

Beginning on Friday June 22,  the sun produced the largest explosions since April – which was kicked-off by an M5 at 10:11pm EST.

Following behind was the strongest of the three, M7.6, which peaked at 1:16am on July 23 and the grand finale was an M5.5 – it reached its height just 15 minutes after the second flare.
These two orientated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex, which is a region of the sun known for its powerful magnetic fields. 

Two years ago, scientists warned that the sun’s activity was the lowest it has been in 100 years.
Researcher believe the solar lull could cause major changes, and say there is a 20% chance it could lead to 'major changes' in temperatures. ‘M-class’ flares are deemed ‘medium’ flares that just fall short of the most intense category, ‘X-class’.

But this weekend provided the Solar Dynamics Observatory team with quite a show.
Beginning on Friday, the sun produced the largest explosions since April – which was kicked-off by an M5 at 10:11 pm EST in the Active Region 12567

Following behind was the strongest of the three, M7.6, which peaked at 1:16 am on July 23 and the grand finale was an M5.5 – it reached its height just 15 minutes after the second flare.
These two originated from the AR2565-AR2567 sunspot complex, which is a region of the sun known for its powerful magnetic fields. Solar flares are brief, powerful eruptions of radiation that occur on the surface of the sun.Although harmful, the radiation from a flare is not capable of passing through Earth’s atmosphere.However, they are strong enough to disrupt the atmosphere in the layer where our GPS and communication signals travel.



Source: Dailymail

Finally Solar Probe Plus (2018) will begin the Journey Into The Sun

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 

After 60 years of dreaming of a close-up solar mission, it's quickly approaching time for NASA to realize that goal. Last week, the agency announced that the Solar Probe Plus mission has moved into "advanced development" ahead of a launch in 2018. It's being built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL).

RELATED: Magnetic 'Braids' May Cook the Sun

Solar Probe Plus has an exciting few years ahead of it following the launch, including no less than seven (!) Venus flybys and a daring plunge into the corona, or the outer atmosphere of the sun. Here are some of the science details for you to brush up on:

Key elements of the solar probe plus mission of NASA

1. Staring down the Sun

Where does the sun's energy flow? How is the outer atmosphere heated? These are some of the main questions that NASA's Solar Probe Plus will answer. The microphone drp will happen when the probe gets the chance to fly through the solar corona, something scientists have wanted to do for 60 years but couldn't until the technology caught up. "Solar Probe Plus is a true mission of exploration; for example, the spacecraft will go close enough to the Sun to watch the solar wind speed from subsonic to supersonic, and it will fly ghrough the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles," JHUAPL wrote on the mission website. "Still, as with any great mission of discovery, Solar Probe Plus is likely to generate more questions than it answers."

2. Seven lucky Venus flybys

It's very common for spacecraft to use gravity assists to reduce their fuel requirements (which saves on launch weight and therefore money). But the tradeoff for Solar Probe Plus will be time as it flies seven times by the planet Venus between 2018 and 2024. It's only after the seventh flyby that Solar Probe Plus will be close enough to the sun to do all of the science that researchers desire. That said, the spacecraft will not be idle during this time. You can bet it will be looking at the star from afar, and that when it flies by Venus at least some science instruments will be turned on to look at the planet. It's like a bonus Venus mission.

3. Braving the sun's fury

Solar Probe Plus will need to withstand a lot of heat when it gets up close to the sun. It's closest approach is expected at 3.7 million miles (5.9 million kilometers), about seven times closer than Mercury ever gets to the sun. This also handily beats the record set by the Helios 2 spacecraft, which really just grazed the inside of Mercury's orbit. It passed about 27 million miles (44 million kilometers) from the sun in Apirl 1976. From both close up and afar, it will look at the solar wind (the stream of particles from the sun). energy transfer through the sun , and something called "dusty plasma" — superheated gas with suspended particles in it — near the sun.

4. Magnetic Madness

The sun has a lot of mysteries surrounding its magnetic field. The main one is why the sun reverses olarity every 11 years in a cycle which sees it go from a weakling with pracically no sunspots, to a monster spewing solar flares, and back to a weakling again before switching polariteis once more. 

A bit part of the Solar Probe Plus mission is to probe the magnetic field and other parts of the sun to make better prediction sabout when the next flare will head towrads Earth. Big-enough solar flares can cause damage to satellites and even power lines. This image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows just how complicated the magnetic field is. "The complex overlay of lines can teach scientists about the wyas the sun's magnetism changes in response to the constant movemetn on and inside the sun," NASA wrote in March. "Note how the magnetic fields are densest near the bright spots visible on the sun — which are magnetically strong active regions — and many of the field lines link one active region to another."

5. Building for the long haul

If you're going to get close to the sun for long periods of time, you have to make sure your spacecraft can take the heat. Solar Probe Plus will carry a huge shield that is eight fee in diameter and 4.5 inches thick, made up of carbon-carbon carbon foam. Its solar arrays, JHUAPL said, will move around to make sure that the panels maintain the proper heat and power, retracting and extending as required. 

Some "heat-resistant technologies," JHUAPL added, came from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, a Mercury probe that flew by the planet three times before settling into an orbital mission that ran between 2011 and 2015. For example, the solar shield on Solar Probe Plus is similar toe designs of MESSENGER's sunshade.

Other articles on the same theme:

• After 20 years of work and billions of dollars spent, the gigantic NASA space telescope is completed. It has gold plated mirrors and is 100 times more powerful than Hubble

• NASA announced the next mission to Mars

• Elon Musk announced great mission on Mars. When it launches and what purpose

• Mars could support extraterrestrial life. A new image published by the European Space Agency shows the place that would have hosted life

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by NASA . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.