Explosions Rock Four Regions of the Sun Simultaneously, Captured by NASA
On April 23, a rare occurrence was documented by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite as it managed to capture footage of massive explosions happening simultaneously in four different regions of the Sun.
Solar flares are a common phenomenon, especially now, as the Sun nears the peak of its activity cycle. During this phase of the Schwabe cycle, or solar cycle as it's more commonly known, sunspots and coronal mass ejections are frequent, which in the best-case scenario create spectacular auroras, but in the worst case, can lead to disruptions in communication systems.
According to the National Weather Service of America, sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than on Earth and exhibits values much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Due to this, the magnetic pressure increases while the atmospheric pressure decreases, which in turn reduces the temperature of the area relative to its surroundings. However, the strong magnetic field prevents hot gas from rising from the core.
This process leads to large explosions on the surface of the Sun. It's rare for multiple explosions to occur simultaneously - such occurrences are known as sympathetic solar flares. For a long time, researchers thought that these synchronized explosions were merely coincidental, but a statistical analysis in 2002 showed that they are not: magnetic loops connect these events.
It is exceedingly rare for more than two such explosions to happen at once, these are referred to as supersympathetic solar flares. NASA's satellite recorded one such event, affecting a total of three plus one regions.
Particles from the event reached Earth on Friday, but no major disruptions have been reported.