Double Solar Impact Coming, Brightest Gamma Burst | S0 News Apr.13.2024
Suspicious0bservers
The term “Double Solar Impact” refers to a recent event where Earth was hit by radiation from a rare ‘double’ X-class solar flare. This event triggered the most powerful geomagnetic storm our planet has seen in more than six years. The storm occurred after an eruption from an extremely rare “double” X-class flare disturbed Earth’s magnetic field, which resulted in vibrant auroras and other luminous phenomena visible across the globe1.
This double X-class flare was unusual because it consisted of two simultaneous explosions, known as a sympathetic solar flare, ejected by a pair of sunspots separated by hundreds of thousands of miles. The tandem explosion launched a massive cloud of plasma and radiation into space, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), that barreled into Earth’s magnetosphere on March 24, 2024. The collision sent shockwaves through the planet’s invisible protective shield, temporarily weakening it and allowing solar radiation to penetrate deeper into the atmosphere than normal. This event also triggered auroras in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the aurora-like phenomenon STEVE (strong thermal emission velocity enhancement) in Alaska1.
The unusual nature of this solar explosion and the intensity of the resulting geomagnetic storm are both clear indicators that the sun is nearing the fiery peak of its roughly 11-year cycle of activity, known as solar maximum. This means Earth could be in the firing line of more potentially harmful solar storms in the coming months1.
