Solar Flare: Third X Class Flare Unleashed by Sun in Two Days [UPDATE]

A lot of solar activity has been taking place this week.  The closest star to Earth unleashed yet another intense solar flare on Wednesday, the third in two days.

 On June 11, 2014, the sun emitted a X-class solar flare, the third intense flare in two days. The  flare peaked at 5.06 a.m. EDT and was classified as X1.0 by  NASA. This dramatic event was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.  

This X class solar flare erupted from the same active region 2087 (AR 2087) that had recently rotated its view over the southeastern limb of the sun's disk.  

According to the National Weather Service Space Weather Prediction Center, the impact from this solar activity was short lived and affected HF communications for the daylit side of the Earth at the time of the flare.  Unlike the previous solar flare that erupted on June 10, this solar activity was not associated with coronal mass ejection (CME).

The CME that occurred with the previous flare has been noticed moving at a flank from Earth and some effect on Earth from this event is expected on June 13.

Prior to this the Sun unleashed a pair of solar flares on June 10 that peaked at 7.42 a.m. EDT and 8.52 a.m. EDT respectively.

According to Space.com, "The sun is in the active phase of its 11-year solar cycle, called Solar Cycle 24. NASA officials now think the sun's activity is at its maximum, which they have dubbed the "mini max." Although the sun's activity is on the upswing, NASA officials say this solar max is still quite weak by comparison to other solar maximums on record. Scientists initially had expected that the solar maximum, the peak in the sun's activity cycle, would occur in 2013."

Solar flares are nothing but a burst of powerful radiation that unleash hazardous material in the outer space but none of these can pass through the Earth's atmosphere. They are further classified based on the intensity where X denotes the intense and strongest solar flare and A stands for the weakest. The numbers designated denote the strength of the flare within the same class.