New sunspot group unleashes barrage of huge solar flares as astronomers predict two years of storms which could cause chaos on Earth

• 'X-class' flare is most powerful kind of solar flare

• Two years of violent solar storms predicted

A Nasa handout photo shows the massive solar flare that could affect power grids, GPS and airplane flights

The X1 solar flare in a new active region on the sun, region 1429. It has let loose two M-class flares and one X-class so far. Material erupted from the sun with 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 largest solar flare in six years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, GPS and airplane flights.
The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start smacking Earth around 7 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. They say the flare is growing as it speeds outward from the sun.
'It's hitting us right in the nose,' said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He called it the sun's version of 'Super Tuesday'.

The sun-spot group 1429 is seen on the surface of the Sun on this photo taken from Salgotarjan, 109 kms northeast of Budapest, Hungary

The solar storm is likely to last through Friday morning, but the region that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. He said another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth right after this.
But for now, scientists are waiting to see what happens Thursday when the charged particles hit Earth at 4.5 million mph.
NASA solar physicist Alex Young added, 'It could give us a bit of a jolt.' But he said this is far from a super solar storm.


The storm is coming after an earlier and weaker solar eruption happened Sunday, Kunches said. This newer blast of particles will probably arrive slightly later than forecasters first thought.
That means for North America the 'good' part of a solar storm — the one that creates more noticeable auroras or Northern Lights — will peak Thursday evening. Auroras could dip as far south as the Great Lakes states or lower, Kunches said, but a full moon will make them harder to see.

The explosions on the sun created a 'coronal mass ejection' which sent a large amount of charged particles into space, but they are expected to avoid Earth because the sun spots are off to the side of our star

This extreme ultraviolet wavelength image provided by NASA provides another look at a solar flare, which could also force airlines to reroute

This colour-coded image combines observations made by Nasa in several extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, highlighting a bright X-class flare toward the upper left on March 6

This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 -- since the sun's activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007

Auroras are 'probably the treat we get when the sun erupts,' Kunches said.
But there is the potential for widespread problems. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation when all three types of solar storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Kunches said.
That means 'a whole host of things' could follow, he said.
The magnetic part of the storm has the potential to trip electrical power grids. Kunches said power companies around the Earth have been alerted for possible outages. The timing and speed of the storm determines whether it will knock off power grids, he said.

In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose power.
Solar storms can also make global positioning systems less accurate, which is mostly a problem for precision drilling and other technologies, Kunches said. There also could be GPS outages.
The storm also can cause communication problems and added radiation around the north and south poles, which will probably force airlines to reroute flights. Some already have done so, Kunches said.
Satellites could be affected by the storm, too. NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the space agency isn't taking any extra precautions to protect astronauts on the International Space Station from added radiation from the solar storm.

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