BEIJING,Jan.4(Xinhua)--China'ssolarexplorationsatelliteKuafu-1hascapturedimagesofastrongsolarflareemittedbytheSunonthefirstdayof2024,accordingtothePurpleMountainObservatoryundertheChineseAcademyofSciences.Thesolarflare,peakingat5:55a.m.BeijingTimeonMonday,isclassifiedasanX5.0flare,thestrongestinmorethansixyears.Coronalmassejectionswerealsodetectedsimultaneouslybythesatellite.SolarflaresarelargeexplosionsfromthesurfaceoftheSunthatemitintenseburstsofelectromagneticradiation,whichcanlastmereminutes.Theyareratedbasedontheirstrength,withA-classasthesmallest,followedbyB,C,MandXasthemostpotent.Flaresandsolareruptionscanimpacthigh-frequencyradiocommunications,electricpowergridsandnavigationsignals,andposeriskstospacecraftandastronauts.ChenAnqin,chiefforecasteroftheNationalCenterforSpaceWeather,saidtheimpactofthesolarflaresonEarthwouldbeminimal.However,otherphenomenathataccompanytheflares,suchascoronalmassejectionsthatreachEarth,cancausegeomagneticstorms.However,ChensaidthatX-classflareswillbecomefrequentoccurrencesin2024.Every11years,theSuncompletesasolarcycleofcalmandstormyactivityandbeginsanewone.Thecurrentsolarcycle,calledSolarCycle25,beganinDecember2019.AccordingtoChen,duringeachsolarcycle,thereareabout100X-classsolarflares,withnearly20X-classsolarflaresoccurringin2023alone."Solarflaresareexpectedtobecomemorecommonin2024astheSunrisestothepeakofSolarCycle25,knownasthesolarmaximum,"Chensaid.TheKuafu-1satellitewasnamedafterKuafu,agiantinChinesemythologywhoindefatigablychasedtheSun.ThesatellitewaslaunchedaboardaLongMarch-2Drocketin2022.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.