It is predicted, there will be massive Solar Flares in the year 2013. I have read numerous articles on the Internet regarding this subject and the general agreement is: a lot of communication failures, throughout the world.

If you want to do some studies on the topic, just type in Solar Flare 2013 and/or Solar Cycle 24 in the Search Section of your Search Engine. There are literally thousands of articles available to choose from.

I will do more research on the subject; because it is possible, this will be one of the causes, resulting in the process of starting the Great Tribulation Period. The timing of this event, in which the Syrian Antichrist will make use of, to start the attack of his Arab army into the Nation of Israel, could be the beginning of this Great Tribulation Period.

This event could result in worldwide communication failures and several massive flares could set the stage for large earthquake and volcanic eruptions, as these flares hit the earth's Van Allen Belts and the ionosphere.

I will add more links; as time permits.

Solar Flare links:

01. Solar Flare - From: Wikipedia

02. Solar Flare Theory - From: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

03. Solar Flare - From: Solar Science

04. Spacecraft Observes Coronal Mass Ejection - From: NASA

05. Solar Flare - From: NASA

Solar Cycle 24 links:

01. Solar Cycle 24 - From: NASA

02. Solar Cycle Prediction - From: NASA

03. Sunspots - From: Space Today

04. Solar Cycle - From: Wikipedia

The Ionosphere links:

01. The Effects of Earth's Upper Atmosphere on Radio Signals

02. The Earth's Atomsphere

03. Ionosphere Images - From: Google Search Images

Van Allen Belts Links:

01. Van Allen Radiation Belts

What is a Solar Flare?

A flare is defined as a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness. A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Radiation electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to x-rays and gamma rays at the short wavelength end. The amount of energy released is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time! The first solar flare recorded in astronomical literature was on September 1, 1859. Two scientists, Richard C. Carrington and Richard Hodgson, were independently observing sunspots at the time, when they viewed a large flare in white light.

Soft x-ray image of a solar flare on the Sun

As the magnetic energy is being released, particles, including electrons, protons, and heavy nuclei, are heated and accelerated in the solar atmosphere. The energy released during a flare is typically on the order of 10²⁷ergs per second. Large flares can emit up to 10³² ergs of energy. This energy is ten million times greater than the energy released from a volcanic explosion. On the other hand, it is less than one-tenth of the total energy emitted by the Sun every second.

There are typically three stages to a solar flare. First is the precursor stage, where the release of magnetic energy is triggered. Soft x-ray emission is detected in this stage. In the second or impulsive stage, protons and electrons are accelerated to energies exceeding 1 MeV. During the impulsive stage, radio waves, hard x-rays, and gamma rays are emitted. The gradual build up and decay of soft x-rays can be detected in the third, decay stage. The duration of these stages can be as short as a few seconds or as long as an hour.

Solar flares extend out to the layer of the Sun called the corona. The corona is the outermost atmosphere of the Sun, consisting of highly rarefied gas. This gas normally has a temperature of a few million degrees Kelvin. Inside a flare, the temperature typically reaches 10 or 20 million degrees Kelvin, and can be as high as 100 million degrees Kelvin. The corona is visible in soft x-rays, as in the above image. Notice that the corona is not uniformly bright, but is concentrated around the solar equator in loop-shaped features. These bright loops are located within and connect areas of strong magnetic field called active regions. Sunspots are located within these active regions. Solar flares occur in active regions.

The frequency of flares coincides with the Sun's eleven year cycle. When the solar cycle is at a minimum, active regions are small and rare and few solar flares are detected. These increase in number as the Sun approaches the maximum part of its cycle. The Sun will reach its next maximum in the year 2011, give or take one year.

From: Solar Flare

Web Author: Gordon Holman
Web Author: Sarah Benedict

Responsible NASA Official: Gordon D. Holman,
Heliophysics Science Division
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Solar Physics Laboratory / Code 671
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Gordon.D.Holman@nasa.gov