New Active Region on Sun Produces Three Flares Including an X1 on March 5

  • Released Monday, March 5, 2012
  • Updated Friday, October 9, 2015 at 1:26PM
  • ID: 10957

Short, edited video of X1 flare in 171.

On March 2, 2012 a new active region on the sun, region 1429, rotated into view. It has let loose two M-class flares and one X-class so far. The M-class flares erupted on March 2 and on March 4. The third flare, rated an X1, peaked at 10:30 ET on March 4. A CME accompanied each flare, though due to the fact that this active region is still off to the side of the sun, they will likely have a weak effect on Earth's magnetosphere.

The M class flare on March 4 flare also came with what's called a Type IV radio burst that lasted for about 46 minutes. Sending out broadband radio waves, these bursts can occur towards the end of a solar flare and are believed to be created by moving electrons trapped in great, looping magnetic fields left over from the initial flare. The bursts can interfere with radio communications on Earth.

2kx2k full-disk video of March 5 X1 flare from JHelioviewer. The footage comes from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It is a wavelength of 171 angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet, and highlights plasma in the corona at temperatures of 600,000 Kelvin.

Zoomed in video of March 5 X1 flare from JHelioviewer. The footage comes from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It is a wavelength of 171 angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet, and highlights plasma in the corona at temperatures of 600,000 Kelvin.

2kx2k full-disk video of March 5 X1 flare from JHelioviewer. The footage comes from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It is a wavelength of 131 angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet, and highlights plasma in the corona at temperatures of 10 Million Kelvin.

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SDO AIA 131 (A.K.A. 131 Filter) (Collected with the AIA sensor)
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SDO AIA 171 (A.K.A. 171 Filter) (Collected with the AIA sensor)
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