WEATHER BLOG – SOLAR FLARES

July 18, 2012 at 4:15 pm

On July 12 one of the biggest solar flares of the year erupted from the giant sunspot AR1520, or Active Region 1520, which is actually a group of sunspots that at its peak may have stretched across 300,000km.

It was the sixth X-class solar flare of 2012.

One of our avid photographers David Hough captured this flare in is a brilliant photo.

This is how it looked on the suns surface.

This is how it looked on the ground.

The solar flare has ignited the Aurora Australis. It is so strong that it has been seen as far north as Tasmania where these shots were taken and in New Zealand.

We are currently in an active phase of the 11 year solar weather cycle expected to peak in 2013. So there may be more spectacular light shows during the rest of the winter.

Gavin Morris
@gavinmorrisnbn

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