Support global hazard monitoring — Join 112 supporters
Go ad-free
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Impulsive X1.5 solar flare erupts from geoeffective Region 3764, G3 – Strong geomagnetic storm watch

x1.5 solar flare july 29 2024 f

Featured image: X1.5 solar flare on July 29, 2024. Credit: NASA SDO/AIA 131, Helioviewer, The Watchers

An impulsive solar flare measuring X1.5 erupted from geoeffective Active Region 3764 at 02:37 UTC on July 29, 2024. The event started at 02:33 and ended at 02:43 UTC. As a result of recent solar activity, a G3 – Strong geomagnetic storm watch is in effect.

A Type II Radio Emission with an estimated velocity of 535 km/s was detected, indicating a coronal mass ejection (CME) was associated with the flare event.

In addition, this event was associated with a 10cm Radio Burst lasting 1 minute and with a peak flux of 300 sfu. This indicates that the electromagnetic burst associated with a solar flare at the 10cm wavelength was double or greater than the initial 10cm radio background. This can be indicative of significant radio noise in association with a solar flare. This noise is generally short-lived but can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications.

sunspots on july 29 2024
Sunspots on July 29, 2024. Credit: NASA SDO/HMI

3756 – Alpha
3762 – Beta-Gamma-Delta
3763 – Beta
3764 – Beta
3765 -Beta-Gamma-Delta
3766 – Beta
3767 – Beta-Gamma-Delta
3768 – Beta
3769 – Alpha
3770 – Beta-Gamma
goes-x-ray-flux-1-minute 3 days to july 29 2024
x1.5 solar flare july 29 2024 aia 304
X1.5 solar flare on July 29, 2024. Credit: NASA SDO/AIA 301
x1.5 solar flare july 29 2024 aia 131
X1.5 solar flare on July 29, 2024. Credit: NASA SDO/AIA 131
drap x1.5 solar flare july 29 2024

We are still waiting for coronagraph imagery but judging by the location of Region 3764 in the center of the disk, an Earth-directed CME is likely.

Radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over East Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean.

This event follows several days of increased solar activity with multiple Earth-directed CMEs, including cannibal CME.

As a result, a G3 – Strong geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for July 30, according to the SWPC.

Keep in mind this forecast still doesn’t take into account today’s CME, so we might be looking at prolonged geomagnetic storming in the days ahead.

The same applies to this great analysis by space weather physicist Dr. Tamita Skov, published on July 28:

Solar activity is likely to be moderate to high with a slight chance for X-class flares through July 31 due to the potential of AR 3762 and the cluster of spotted groups containing ARs 3765 and 3766.

References:

1 Forecast Discussion – NOAA/SWPC – Issued 00:30 UTC on July 29, 2024

I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.

Share:

Commenting rules and guidelines

We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *