Sun Unfurls Another X-Class Solar Flare

The Sun unleashed a sixth significant solar flare since Oct. 23, peaking late night Thursday, Nov. 7, NASA reported.

The X1.1 flare came from a sunspot region known as AR1890, which has a "beta-gamma-delta magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares," according to SpaceWeather.com.

Thursday's flare comes on the heels of another X-class fare this week. Tuesday's X3.3-grade flare was the strongest of the year, triggering about an hour of high-frequency radio signal blackout.

The numbers following the flare's letter class provide more information about the flare's strength. An X2 flare, for instance, is twice as strong as an X1.

Thursday's X1.1 flare was not strong enough to cause radio blackouts similar to Tuesday's event, although the NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the US government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings, said the next 72 hours will see moderate solar activity with a chance of more X-class solar flares on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Nov. 9-11).

On Thursday morning NOAA forecasters said there was a 10 percent chance of another X-class flare; the X1.1-class flare peaked Thursday at 11:26 p.m. EST.

Solar activity is measured in 11-year activity cycles. The Sun entered its solar maximum this summer. Prior to Tuesday's powerful flare, the strongest flare this year, an X3.2, happened in May during a notably hyperactive week of solar activity, which saw our star unfurl three major flares in one day.

The first solar flare of the current solar cycle occurred in February 2011. The strongest flare of the current cycle measured X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 60 percent chance of M-class flares and a 30 percent chance of X-flares on Nov. 9th, according to SpaceWeather.com.