HONG KONG: It was unexpected, but it happened. The Sun released a massive X-class solar flare that minimally knocked out radio signals and caused marginal power disruptions in certain areas of the United States – the first of such solar flares this year.
According to experts, solar flares are eruptions of solar radiation. In this case, the massive X-class flare came to its peak a little after Eastern Time. And the Solar Dynamic Observatory was reported to have caught some video of the flare the moment it reached an X2 level on the scale of solar eruptions.
Space scientists reported that the flare was so massive it disrupted radio signals across most of the Western Hemisphere. A radio astronomer, Thomas Ashcraft, observed the flare was very strong to the point of potentially scrambling the ionosphere – this made it impossible for decametric radio signals surrounding the Earth to penetrate the interference.
Although Ashcraft reported that radio signals was only knocked out for about 15 minutes, he still managed to pick it up via the electricity emitted in his observatory. Emanating from a point known as Active Region 12297, the US Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado reported that the flare caused a blackout that lasted about one hour in some areas, also leading to downing of high-frequency radio communications.
The analysts wasted much time analyzing the strength of the flare because of the slow speed of the superheated plasma otherwise known as the coronal mass injections. This year’s sun’s flare is said to be the largest emission by Active Region 12297 – causing blackouts of R2 moderate and R1 minor radio breakdowns.
Experts announced that CMEs often go hand in hand with solar flares, but this usually takes 2-3 days before it reaches the Earth in though it is traveling at a speed of over one million miles per hour. As soon as solar flares get released in Earth’s direction, CMEs are known to briefly disrupt global positioning satellites, creating disruptions in terrestrial power grids.
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