An accident saved the Earth from the most powerful solar flare in many years

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, the most powerful solar flare occurred in the current cycle of activity of our star. It was class X14 and was almost twice as powerful as the May flare of class X8.7, after which auroras were observed far in the south of our country and many other regions. Fortunately, the most powerful flare in many years occurred on the far side of the Sun, which saved us from the consequences.

Image source: Helioviewer.org

The July 23 flare was accompanied by a spectacular coronal mass ejection from the Sun. This is a cloud of plasma – charged particles that can cause disruptions in radio communications on Earth and in the operation of satellites, up to their complete damage and even deorbit due to the expansion of the Earth’s atmosphere under the influence of the solar wind. Since the flare occurred on the far side of the Sun, the CME “shot” went into empty space.

«According to the GOES classification, it was the largest flare to date, said Samuel Krucker, lead scientist at the Spectrometer and X-ray Imaging Telescope (STIX) at SolO. – Other major outbreaks we detected occurred on May 20, 2024 (X12) and July 17, 2023 (X10). They all originated from the far side of the Sun.”

If the giant sunspot that gave rise to the flare was looking towards the Earth, and this is only a matter of synchronization in time with the rotation of the star, then we would be struck by a geomagnetic storm more powerful than the May one. The auroras would be visible far to the south. On the other hand, the energy and other infrastructure on the planet could suffer, which is not good for industrial civilization. Under the influence of solar disturbances, the Earth’s magnetic field begins to move, which causes the induction of direct currents in extended metal structures – rails, pipelines, power lines. This places critical stress on electronic and electrical equipment with the risk of accidents.