For the sixth time this week, Active Region 2673 on the surface of the sun has just blated out a solar flare Friday morning, an event that has been happening with regularity since Monday, Sept. 4. Two of the flares were X-class, including an absolutely massive X9.3, the most powerful solar flares in 12 years.

Flares are ranked on a three-tiered scale: C, which is the weakest, M, which is 10 times stronger than a C, and X, which are 10 times more intense than Ms. Such strong solar flares typically include coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which send extremely hot solar plasma racing at several million miles per hour out into space, and sometimes slam into Earth, resulting in geomagnetic storms. This can disrupt power grids and block satellite communications.

They also are the cause of the famous northern southern lights, which are created by the geomagnetic storms interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, protecting us from such radiation. Aurora waters were pleasantly surprised in the last few days by the spectacular shows that resulted.