2003-10-29 | MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Enormous X-ray Solar Flare Seen by SOHO

The SOHO spacecraft recently captured images of the third largest solar flare on record. The flare erupted from sunspot 10486 on Tuesday, sending a large coronal mass ejection that hit Earth on Wednesday. The Earth's magnetosphere protects life on the planet from such bursts of radiation, but astronauts in space are particularly vulnerable and must take extra measures to reduce the risk of exposure. Passengers on commercial jets can also be exposed to radiation levels equivalent to those of a medical chest x-ray during such storms.

Understanding the connections between the Sun and Earth are important for determining the habitability of other planets. For instance, the Earth's magnetosphere protects Earth life from the solar wind's harmful radiation. After Mars lost its magnetosphere, the solar wind may have blown away much of Mars' atmosphere. The presence of a magnetosphere might be one of the factors that make a planet habitable. This connection is also important for determining how the Sun's behavior could affect environmental changes on Earth. Finally, knowing how solar radiation affects humans and how humans respond to such effects is especially important in making spaceflight safe for today's missions as well as future missions to distant locations like Mars.

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