Just when we thought we’d seen the most powerful flares from a supermassive sunspot, the sun unleashed its most powerful explosion of the weekend so far, knocking out the radio even as the star continued to pop solar storms.
According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a dynamic solar flare occurred late Saturday (May 10) from an active sunspot region called AR3664. It peaked at 9:23 PM EDT (0123 May 11 GMT), registering as a massive flare of class X5.8, SWPC officials said. As a result, parts of the Earth’s sunlit side experienced a temporary or complete loss of high frequency (HF) radio signals.
Proving that hasn’t happened yet, NASA officials said, also released a powerful solar flare X1.5 at 7:44 a.m. EDT (1144 GMT). Magnitude However, the Sun unleashed a series of powerful flares this week that enhanced Earth’s northern lights displays.
“Solar flares are powerful explosions of energy,” NASA wrote in a statement about solar flares. “Solar flares and flares can affect radio communications, electrical power grids and navigation signals and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.”
According to the Recent NOAA SWPC Discussion, District 3664 has the potential to stay busy through Monday (May 13). High to very high levels of solar activity are expected with an increased likelihood of further flares in the top two categories, M and X. The active region is a massive sunspot complex about 17 times the width of Earth, NOAA SWPC officials said.
Related: The stunning northern lights created by massive solar flares amaze sky watchers
Scientists also noted that there was a coronal mass ejection (CME), a large ejection of plasma and magnetic field, from the main explosion, which they are analyzing and modeling. This could lead to additional impacts on Earth in the coming days including issues with power grids, communications networks and satellites in orbit, as well as another opportunity to get a supercharged view of the northern lights in some locations!
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