Guest Engelsman Finland Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Hi I have been waiting for some good solar flares. I am aware the M class flares usually (if they hit earth) help produce northern lights. What do the C class do? The same but weaker? Giving the traditional 3 day arrival time this is a new years eve display and living in Finland I always have a chance depending on cloud cover. Thanks for any answers in advance! Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel de Bont Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Hey, First of all you need to know that not every solar flare produces a coronal mass ejection. It is the coronal mass ejection that cause aurora at Earth, not solar flares. Solar flares are huge explosions on the Sun which can (but don't have to) launch coronal mass ejections (which are huge clouds of solar plasma) into space and once those CMEs hit Earth, it will cause aurora. Most C-class solar flares do not launch coronal mass ejections and as far as I am aware, the C8 solar flare you mention did not launch a coronal mass ejection. A M-class solar flare is in progress right now and it might launch a CME, however we need coronagraph imagery from SOHO/LASCO to confirm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Engelsman Finland Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Thanks... I just hope for the CME is present and on target! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acidus Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 you forgot to mention that the duration of the solar flare is a key requirement whether a solar flare launches a cme or not, the longer the duration, the bigger the chance is for a cme launch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.