A Colossal Flare Erupted From the Far Side of the Sun

By Nancy Atkinson - February 18, 2022 at 2:07 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy
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Earlier this week the Sun erupted with a huge explosion, blasting solar particles millions of kilometers into space. The team for the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft says the blast is the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image together with the full solar disc.

Luckily for us here on Earth, the eruption on February 15, 2022 occurred on the farside of the Sun, the side facing away from our planet. But ESA and NASA predict geomagnetic storms are possible in the next few days as the active region on the Sun responsible for the blast turns toward us.

The event was captured by several spacecraft, including Solar Orbiter and STEREO A.

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A solar prominence consists of red-glowing loops of plasma, structured by tangled magnetic field lines generated by the Sun's internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma. They are often associated with outbursts of charged particles called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which if directed towards Earth, can wreak havoc with our space-based technology.

Evidence of that came last week when SpaceX lost up to 40 of their recently launched 49 Starlink internet satellites after several CMEs erupted. The solar particles affected Earth's atmosphere -- 'puffing' it up, so to speak -- making it difficult for the satellites to maintain their orbits. In a statement on February 8, SpaceX said "the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches."

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The Sun has definitely increased in activity the past few months, and this latest event on February 15 zapped two "sungrazer' comets that came close to the Sun.

Other space missions were also able to observe the event, including the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft. Here's a side-by-side comparison of Solar Orbiter and SOHO's view:

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Spaceweather.com i s always a good source for finding updates on solar activity and any alerts of impending events.

This video from NASA Goddard is a good explainer of solar events and activity.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com