Largest X-class solar flare of past several years explodes from Sun
The X8.7 flare was seen blasting out of the active sunspot region of the Sun responsible for the recent solar weather, including the dazzling display of Northern Lights that stretched across the nation on Friday night. NOAA space weather forecasters say the Sun continues to release powerful X-class flares this week.
Watch: Time-lapse video gives thrilling look at vibrant Northern Lights above Ireland church
Incredible time-lapse video recorded in Ireland shows the vibrant colors from the Northern Lights moving across the night sky above Ballynafagh Church in Kildare.
Massive solar flares, including what NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) says is the largest solar flare of the current 11-year solar cycle, continue to explode from the Sun this week.
On Tuesday, the X8.7 flare was seen blasting out of the active sunspot region of the Sun responsible for the recent solar weather, including the dazzling display of Northern Lights that stretched across the nation on Friday night.
An X flare is the most intense, and the number represents its strength. While the Sun produces these bursts of energy frequently, flares of this magnitude are not common.
"Region 3664 produced yet another X-ray flare as it moves beyond the Western solar limb," the SWPC said. "This time, it was an X8.7 flare, the largest of this solar cycle."
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But unlike the previous X-class flares last week, this flare was not directed at Earth and isn’t expected to cause any intense geomagnetic storming or large-scale communication issues, aside from temporary degradation of high-frequency radio signals on the sunlit side of Earth.
Two other solar flares, an X1.7 and X1.2, were seen blasting away from the Sun before the X8.7 flare was detected.
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On Wednesday, the SWPC said region 3664 "remains relentless", producing an X3.4 flare.
A new region started erupting energy on Wednesday, including a strong X2.9 flare. The SWPC said the flare could produce radio blackouts on the sunlit side of Earth.
The flare may have an associated coronal mass ejection (CME), triggering geomagnetic storms on Earth and more Northern Lights, but SWPC forecasters are still determining if it will have any impacts on Earth.
Geomagnetic storming eases up
Before the most powerful solar flare let loose, the SWPC said a coronal mass ejection, which is an eruption of solar material from the Sun, could arrive at Earth and lead to an increase in geomagnetic activity.
The SWPC had issued a G2 "moderate" Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Tuesday but said watches at that level are not uncommon. To compare, Friday's geomagnetic storms reached the top G5 "extreme" level.
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A G2 geomagnetic storm, if lasting long enough, could potentially impact power grids, like transformer damage, and could force corrective actions on spacecraft. But they usually do nothing more than trigger a round of Northern Lights that could stretch as far south as some northern and Upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho.
(FOX Weather)
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As of Wednesday, only minor (level 1) Geomagnetic Storm impacts are forecast by the SWPC.
Northern Lights visible in Florida, Texas last week
Watch: Sky above Seattle turns green as Northern Lights dance across sky
The sky above Seattle turned green when an amazing Northern Lights display danced above the city in a stunning time-lapse video on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Late last week, the strongest solar activity in decades sparked a dazzling display of the Northern Lights that was enjoyed by people worldwide. The display reached as far south as Florida and Texas in the southern U.S., and even parts of northern Mexico caught a glimpse.
The sky was filled with brilliant colors of green, pink, purple and red from the Northern Lights on Friday and Saturday after a massive sunspot the width of 17 Earths spewed solar flares, leading to the geomagnetic storm activity reaching Level 5 "extreme" conditions.
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Image 1 of 25MERCER, MAINE - MAY 11, 2024 The northern lights fill the sky with green ribbons of electrical charged particles over the barn and pastures at Greaney's Turkey Farm in Mercer, Maine on May 11, 2024. The aurora borealis, commonly referred to as the northern lights, are electrically charged particles that are interacting with gases in outer space. This recent display was the strongest seen since 2003 rating a G5 on the geomagnetic scale. (Photo by Michael Seamans/Getty Images) ( )
![BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 12: The aurora borealis glows in the night sky over the Badaling section of the Great Wall on May 12, 2024 in Beijing, China. Due to the current geomagnetic storm, aurora borealis were observed across China on the night of May 11 and on the early morning of May 12. (Photo by Yang Dong/VCG via Getty Images)]()
Image 2 of 25BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 12: The aurora borealis glows in the night sky over the Badaling section of the Great Wall on May 12, 2024 in Beijing, China. Due to the current geomagnetic storm, aurora borealis were observed across China on the night of May 11 and on the early morning of May 12. (Photo by Yang Dong/VCG via Getty Images) ( )
![BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 12: The aurora borealis glows in the night sky over the Badaling section of the Great Wall on May 12, 2024 in Beijing, China. Due to the current geomagnetic storm, aurora borealis were observed across China on the night of May 11 and on the early morning of May 12. (Photo by Yang Dong/VCG via Getty Images)]()
Image 3 of 25BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 12: The aurora borealis glows in the night sky over the Badaling section of the Great Wall on May 12, 2024 in Beijing, China. Due to the current geomagnetic storm, aurora borealis were observed across China on the night of May 11 and on the early morning of May 12. (Photo by Yang Dong/VCG via Getty Images) ( )
![CALIFORNIA, USA - MAY 11: Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminate the sky of San Francisco North Bay as seen from China Camp Beach in San Rafael, California, United States on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)]()
Image 4 of 25CALIFORNIA, USA - MAY 11: Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminate the sky of San Francisco North Bay as seen from China Camp Beach in San Rafael, California, United States on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) ( )
![This incredible image shows the sky filled with colors of pink, red, purple and green as the Northern Lights danced above a church in Ireland on Saturday, May 11, 2024.]()
Image 5 of 25This incredible image shows the sky filled with colors of pink, red, purple and green as the Northern Lights danced above a church in Ireland on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (@sryanbruenphoto / X)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 6 of 25Northern Lights from Mukilteo, Washington during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (Scott Sistek)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 7 of 25Northern Lights from Mukilteo, Washington during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (Scott Sistek)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 8 of 25Northern Lights from Reno, Nevada during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Reno)
![Northern Lights from Riverton, Wyoming, during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024.]()
Image 9 of 25Northern Lights from Riverton, Wyoming, during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Riverton)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 10 of 25Northern Lights from Hastings, Nebraska during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Hastings)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 11 of 25Northern Lights from Seattle during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Seattle)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 12 of 25Northern Lights from Great Falls, Montana during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. ( )
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 13 of 25Northern Lights from Missoula, Montana during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Missoula)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 14 of 25Northern Lights from Shreveport, Louisiana during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Shreveport)
![Aurora show from Extreme Geomagnetic storm]()
Image 15 of 25Northern Lights from Great Falls, Montana during an extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (NWS Great Falls, Montana)
![Top Image Northern Lights]()
Image 16 of 25Top Image Northern Lights ( )
![The Northern Lights were seen in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday night, May 10, 2024.]()
Image 17 of 25The Northern Lights were seen in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday night, May 10, 2024. (Luke Culver)
![Clear skies led the Northern Lights to be visible in Texas and New Mexico]()
Image 18 of 25Clear skies led the Northern Lights to be visible in Texas and New Mexico (@NWSElPaso)
![FOX Weather Storm Tracker Mark Sudduth caught a stunning view of the aurora over South Carolina while in a plane.]()
Image 19 of 25FOX Weather Storm Tracker Mark Sudduth caught a stunning view of the aurora over South Carolina while in a plane. (Mark Sudduth)
![View from Concord, N.C.]()
Image 20 of 25View from Concord, N.C. (Jay Caceres)
![Outside of the NWS office in Caribou, Maine.]()
Image 21 of 25Outside of the NWS office in Caribou, Maine. ( )
![Forecasters at the NWS office in Calera, AL saw the aurora and the space station.]()
Image 22 of 25Forecasters at the NWS office in Calera, AL saw the aurora and the space station. (@NWSBirmingham)
![Aurora borealis]()
Image 23 of 2510 May 2024, Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg: Northern lights appear over the Dreisamtal valley in the Black Forest near Freiburg. (Photo by Valentin Gensch/picture alliance via Getty Images)
![Aurora borealis]()
Image 24 of 2510 May 2024, Brandenburg, Sieversdorf: Light green and violet-reddish auroras glow in the night sky in the Oder-Spree district of East Brandenburg. The northern lights (aurora borealis) are produced by a cloud of electrically charged particles from a solar storm in the earth's atmosphere. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
![Aurora borealis]()
Image 25 of 25The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, glow on the horizon over Basingstoke in Hampshire. Picture date: Friday May 10, 2024. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
NASA's JPSS satellite captured the image below of the auroras as the storm passed over North America on May 11.
NOAA’s JPSS Program satellites captured imagery of the stunning auroras that were visible in locations across the globe on May 11, 2024.
(NOAA/NASA)
The Level 5 geomagnetic storm was the first to hit Earth since October 2003. That storm knocked out power in Sweden and damaged electrical transformers in South Africa.
However, this week's Northern Lights display is not expected to be as vivid or intense as last week's.