The Sun emitted a strong solar eruption last Saturday, which reached its maximum at 22:21 GMT, according to the US space agency NASA, which through its Solar Dynamics Observatory was able to capture an image of this event.

The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material from the eruptions and is colored in red and orange, NASA reports Monday on its website.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can affect radio communications, power grids, and navigation signals, as well as pose a risk to spacecraft and astronauts.

That's why NASA constantly monitors the Sun and our space environment with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from solar activity to the Sun's atmosphere, including particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

The flare now captured is classified as class X1.6. The categories depend on the energy released, there are five and X is the maximum; NASA explains that the number provides more information about its strength.

With 4,650 million years, the Sun has a cycle of eleven years (average) throughout which its magnetic activity varies between a minimum and a maximum, when there is a greater number of sunspots that are seen as darker areas.

Eruptions or flares are not the same as sunspots, but there is a relationship. The spots are the warehouse that provides energy supplies for the eruptions. These are explosions in the Sun's photosphere that manifest with increased brightness, radioactive energy, and the violent ejection of electrically charged particles.

When there is a time of special magnetic activity, numerous eruptions take place and the particles sent out at 1,000 or 2,000 kilometers per second can eventually reach Earth (solar storms).

And it is that if they are highly energetic, they could overcome the natural shield that the Earth possesses -magnetic field or magnetosphere-, which could damage communications such as GPS or power supply stations.

An increase in the activity of this cycle

The current solar cycle, known as Solar Cycle 25, began last December 2019. In June of this year, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mentioned that the solar cycle had accelerated much more than scientists predicted, producing more sunspots and flares than expected. that experts had predicted.

Solar events will continue to increase as our star approaches solar maximum in 2025.

“Although we are seeing increased activity on the Sun, we expect this solar cycle to be average compared to solar cycles of the past century,” NOAA said through its space weather service.