Superflare
Since superflares can occur on stars apparently equivalent in every way to the Sun, it is natural to ask if they can occur on the Sun itself. An estimate based on the original Kepler photometric studies suggested a frequency on solar-type stars (early G-type and rotation period more than 10 days) of once every 800 years for an energy of 10 erg and every 5000 years at 10 erg. One-minute sampling provided statistics for less energetic flares and gave a frequency of one flare of energy 10 erg every 5–600 years for a star rotating as slowly as the Sun; this would be rated as X100 on the solar flare scale. This is based on a straightforward comparison of the number of stars studied with the number of flares observed. An extrapolation of the empirical statistics for solar flares to an energy of 10 erg suggests a frequency of one in 10,000 years.
Solar storm of August 1972
Astronomers first reported unusual flares on August 2, later corroborated by orbiting spacecraft. On August 3, Pioneer 9 detected a shock wave and sudden increase in solar wind speed from approximately . A shockwave passed Pioneer 10, which was 2.2 AU from the Sun at the time. The greatly constricted magnetosphere caused many satellites to cross outside Earth's protective magnetic field, such boundary crossings into the magnetosheath lead to erratic space weather conditions and potentially destructive solar particle bombardment. The Intelsat IV F-2 communications satellite solar panel arrays power generation was degraded by 5%, about 2 years worth of wear. An on-orbit power failure ended the mission of a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS II) satellite. Disruptions of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) scanner electronics caused anomalous dots of light in the southern polar cap imagery.