Strongest solar flare in nearly a decade: active week for our sun

On Tuesday, the sun released the largest solar flare in seven years. This comes after a very busy week that brought a generational aurora display as far south as Florida.

A powerful solar flare erupted from the sun on Tuesday. It was the largest solar flare detected since 2017 and also by far the biggest of the sun's current 11-year solar cycle.

The eruption followed last week's solar flares that sent coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hurtling toward Earth over the weekend. These CMEs produced the strongest geomagnetic storm in more than two decades. Spectacular auroras were seen as far south as Florida.

Tuesday's solar flare occurred around 1 p.m. Eastern time and was rated an X-class flare, the most powerful kind. Solar flares are ranked by alphabetical classes: A-class, the smallest; and B, C, M and X-class. Tuesday's flare was an X8.7, meaning it was on the stronger end of the X-class spectrum, which ranges from 1 to 9.

While this flare was very powerful, it won't produce a repeat of this past weekend's dazzling display of northern lights. This flare originated on the sun’s western side away from Earth. Any CMEs from this flare are unlikely to produce a geomagnetic storm heading toward Earth.