A dramatic series of flares to end 2023! Click the image to watch these flares happen across the Sun or
click here to watch the youtube version
End of the Year Fireworks 2023
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As 2023 wrapped up, the Sun joined in the fireworks that lit up the night skies all around Earth. The first of the solar flares started on December 24th with the active region(AR) 13529 producing a M2.9 flare that starts the video. Twelve hours later, the same active region popped off a lower class C5.0 flare. Complex active regions commonly erupt more than once while on the Earth facing side of the solar surface, or disk. In the next part of the video, there is a flare labeled “not assigned” as the region that flared did not have a designated number. That flare can be seen here, using the Solar Dynamics Observatory wavelength 304. The 25th of December proved quiet. However, the Sun briefly increased activity once more on the 26th with AR13529 and a C4.4 flare. It was not until December 29th that solar activity once again increased above low level C class flares. Around half after midnight universal time, Hinode observed the first flare of the 29th, a lower level C2.5 class flare from AR13528. At 07:53 UT, Hinode captured a C9.7 class flare from AR13533 in the north-west region of the Sun. The next flare was from AR13530 on the West limb, or edge of the solar disk, another C2.5 class flare. The final flare of the day was a C6.5 also from AR13530. Again, the Sun quieted down for one day. On the final day of the year and the end of the video, the Sun peaked in activity all from one active region on the East limb, AR13536. Starting around 9am UT, Hinode spied a C8.2 flare followed a few hours later by a C6.6 flare. AR13536 was not yet done. In the final hours of December 31st, AR13536 produced the strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, an X5.0 class flare. The video was made using Hinode XRT (X-Ray Telescope) and Al-poly filter. Each flare was captured during the “Flare Mode” program that runs every time Hinode XRT senses a sudden brightening on the solar disk. However, there are several days that have missing large (greater than C5.0) flares; for instance, a couple of C class flares on the 30th as well as M class flares on the 24th and 31st. As Hinode travels around the Earth, there are times where XRT needs to be sheltered from additional radiation, specifically in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) which has higher levels of radiation than around the rest of the Earth. The instrument will stop taking observations during the time when passing through the SAA. At the time that XRT is observing activity on the limb, a flare on the opposite side of the disk can be missed. Additionally, if XRT is taking engineering data sets or synoptic images, “Flare Mode” will not be active. Each piece will result in a missed flare. Fortunately, XRT catches many flares using “Flare Mode”! Keywords: AR Tracking, Flare Filters: Al_Poly |
(Prepared by Rhiannon Fleming and Aki Takeda)
The XRT instrument team is comprised of SAO, NASA, JAXA, and NAOJ.
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