The Fiery Lifecycle of a Huge Solar Storm Noticed for the First Time

Solar flares can wreak havoc on Earth, disrupting radio communications, knocking out electrical energy, and inflicting satellites to crash. “Even signals on railway lines can be affected and switch from red to green or vice versa,” explained Louise Harra of the Davos Physical Meteorological Observatory. “That’s really scary.”

Unfortunately, these flares may be troublesome to foretell. That’s partially as a result of, relatively than simply sitting idle on the heart of our photo voltaic system, the solar rotates on its axis as soon as each 28 days, that means we are able to solely observe photo voltaic storms forming on its floor for 2 weeks earlier than they spin out of view. Or no less than that was the case earlier than the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Solar Orbiter mission in 2020.

Orbiting the solar each six months, this spacecraft retains a watch on the far facet of the solar whereas researchers on Earth watch the close to facet. Recently, Harra and Ioannis​​ Kontogiannis of ETH Zurich collected knowledge from each vantage factors, observing a strong photo voltaic storm brewing—the strongest in over 20 years—for an unprecedented 94 days. They published their findings in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 

Read extra: “The 315-Year-Old Science Experiment”

“This is the longest continuous series of images ever created for a single active region: It’s a milestone in solar physics,” stated Kontogiannis. With the Solar Orbiter, the staff was capable of watch because the magnetic tempest fashioned, grew to become more and more advanced, flared, after which decayed. 

They hope these unprecedented observations will enhance the accuracy of photo voltaic storm forecasts in order that we are able to higher perceive—and finally higher put together for them—on Earth. While the Solar Orbiter has proved to be indispensable on this mission, scientists nonetheless aren’t ready to make use of it to foretell how extreme photo voltaic flares might be, however assistance is on the best way.  

“We’re currently developing a new space probe at ESA called Vigil which will be dedicated exclusively to improving our understanding of space weather,” Harra stated. That spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2031.

Enjoying  Nautilus? Subscribe to our free publication.

Lead picture: ESA / AOES

• Jake Currie

  Posted on January 15, 2026

  Jake Currie is a author primarily based in Brooklyn, NY.