🔱 SИ⛛KƏ on Nostr: The European Solar Orbiter probe has detected a solar flare class X12. It became the ...

The European Solar Orbiter probe has detected a solar flare class X12. It became the strongest in the current activity cycle.

In early May, the Sun produced a series of powerful flares, culminating in the largest geomagnetic storm in the last 20 years. Back then, the auroras could be observed even in Mexico and the Canary Islands.

The culprit for this activity was a group of sunspots called AR3664. When it was already at the edge of the solar disk on May 14, it produced an X8.79-class flare that caused severe interference on Earth.

After the fact that AR3664 is no longer visible from Earth does not mean that this “monster” has gone to sleep. Actually, the region produced the most powerful flare in the current solar activity cycle. This became known thanks to spacecraft, primarily the Solar Orbiter probe, which at the time observed the back side of the Sun. On May 20, its STIX X-ray instrument detected an X12-class flare. It was one of the ten most powerful flares recorded since 1996.

The active solar region AR3664 through the eyes of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Source: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI Team