Solar Flare Hurtling Towards Earth at 1.6 million kmph!?

Image credit: NASA

Solar Flare :

The Sun, the star of life, the core of our solar system is also the force of unfathomable destruction.

There was news about a massive solar storm speeding towards our planet at a speed of 1.6 million kph. And the news did gain short momentum on the internet as the intense heatwave swept across many countries along with wildfires. But it was confirmed by the researchers that it was a false claim.

Although there wasn’t any devastating solar storm approaching earth, scientists did record an enormous solar flare jetting from the Sun’s surface at 10:29 am EDT on July 3, 2021. And the researchers at NASA confirmed that it was the biggest and brightest solar flare recorded in four years.

This massive solar flare burst was recorded using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Solar Dynamics Observatory that was launched into orbit on 11th February 2010 to study the Sun.

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What is a solar flare?

It is a sudden and intense burst of powerful solar radiation from the Sun’s surface ejecting energetic particles (plasma and magnetic field) into space.

Considering the distance and the protective magnetic shield of the earth, this deadly radiation from the average flare cannot pierce the atmosphere and physically inflict damage to living organisms on the planet. However, very intense flares can damage the satellite system disrupting GPS and communications systems all over the world.

But as of right now, the researchers have confirmed that no solar storm is hurtling towards earth.

“We typically get 150 of them over an 11-year cycle. Fortunately, we are 93 million miles away from the sun so we have the earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere which protects us from the harmful emissions from these eruptions,” said the program coordinator for the Space Weather Prediction Center, Bill Murtagh to the news agency.

The intense heatwaves sweeping across countries killing many, devastating wildfires, and melting polar ice caps aren’t the result of any solar flare but are the fruits borne of climate change triggered by humans.