Sun unleashes its most powerful eruption of 2013May 14, 2013 - 22:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Sun has unleashed its most powerful eruption of 2013 so far, according to BBC News. The solar flare - a sudden release of radiation - peaked at 1705 BST on Monday, May 13, and was associated with a huge eruption of matter. When these eruptions reach Earth, they can interfere with electronic systems in satellites and those on the ground. NASA said this solar explosion - known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) - was not directed at Earth, but it could pass several U.S. spacecraft. The event on Monday was classified as an "X-class" flare - the most intense type - with a designation of X2.8 (higher numbers denote a stronger flare). It surpassed an X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. They are the first X-class events to occur this year. When intense enough, a flare can disturb the Earth's atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing - the radio blackout associated with this flare has since subsided. CMEs can be even more disruptive because they can send billions of tons of solar particles into space. In those cases when very strong eruptions do reach Earth, the charged matter can blow out transformers in power grids. The so-called Carrington Event of 1-2 September 1859 shorted telegraph wires, starting fires in North America and Europe, and caused bright aurorae (northern and southern lights) to be seen in Cuba and Hawaii. The CME associated with this flare may pass the Stereo-B and Spitzer spacecraft. The operators of those science missions can choose to put their spacecraft into a "safe mode" to protect the electronics in onboard instruments from being tripped. Increased numbers of flares are expected at the moment because the Sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is approaching a "high" of activity - known as a solar maximum. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |