September 2017's intense solar activity viewed from space

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Effects from September’s solar activity were observed as Martian aurora and across the globe on Earth, in the form of events known as ground-level enhancements – showers of neutrons detected on the ground, produced when energetic particles accelerated by a solar eruption stream along Earth’s magnetic field lines and flood the atmosphere. Credit: NOAA/GOES SDO NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the corona at 10 different wavelengths on a 12-second cadence, enabling scientists to track highly dynamic events on the Sun such as these X2.2 and X9.3 solar flares. The X9.3 flare was the most intense flare recorded during the current solar cycle. On Sept. 9, 2017, STEREO watched a CME erupt from the Sun. While the Sun produced high levels of extreme ultraviolet light, SORCE actually detected a dip in total irradiance during the month’s intense solar activity.

Visit Link