On Tuesday, the sun’s first major solar flare of the year emerged from a massive sunspot on the surface of our favourite star, known as AR1944 and described by NASA as "one of the largest sunspots seen in the last 10 years."
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Two weeks ago the sun emitted an electromagnetic pulse that would have caused a catastrophe on Earth had it struck us. But it passed through Earth’s orbit two weeks before we arrived at the point of intersection. Had it hit our planet, it would have destroyed hundreds of the massive transformers that our electric grids depend on. It is unknown how extensive the damage might have been had the pulse hit us, but if its greatest energy had struck the United States, larger areas of the country would have been left without power possibly for years, and the country as we now know it could have ended.
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A direct hit from an ejection of charged particles from the sun could be among the most serious of natural disasters, NASA head Charles Bolden warned Tuesday. Bolden spoke before scientists and industry members at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum, which was held at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Auditorium and Science Center in Silver Spring, Md. A few days later, a huge hole opened up in the sun’s corona, raising the possibility that major solar storms could take place in the next few days.
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