Intense X-Class Solar Flare Causes South Pacific Radio Blackout In Sunspot's Second Firing This Week

The second "X-class" solar flare fired this week by the same "dangerous" sunspot was extremely powerful, causing a radio blackout in the South Pacific. There were no CMEs during the event, according to experts.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the eruption on Friday just before 1 AM UCT, or 8 PM ET, and it was caused by a newly forming sunspot known as AR3182.

X-Class Solar Flares

Solar flares are enormous explosions that happen in a specific area of the sun's atmosphere as a result of the release of energy from magnetic fields that have been "twisted." These phenomena, which frequently occur close to darker sunspots, and planet-sized regions of the solar surface, emit high-speed particles and electromagnetic radiation into space. They can start solar radiation storms and Earth-wide radio blackouts.

The intensity of solar flares can be used to categorize them. The strongest ones-like the most recent event-are referred to as "X-class" flares, while the least potent ones are "A-class."

The Thursday solar flare was classified as "X1.2" on the scale, placing it among the sun's most potent flares, despite being on the relatively weak end of the strongest class.

According to NASA, the most potent X-class events are the by far the biggest explosions in the solar system, capable of generating as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs.

A shortwave radio blackout spread across the South Pacific shortly after the most recent solar flare, which was on the sun's eastern limb, or left side, and was caused by an interaction between the Earth's upper atmosphere and a burst of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation.

Radio Blackout

The Pacific region was included at the time in the "large portions" of the sunlit side of the Earth that were impacted by the radio blackout, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). Prevalent signal degradation and loss of communication for up to an hour were potential outcomes.

According to SpaceWeather.com, the main effect was on high-frequency radio communications under 30 MHz, which ham radio operators, mariners, and aviators might have noticed.

No CMEs

Coronal mass ejections, which are large discharges of charged particles with magnetic fields embedded in them from the sun's corona, the outermost region of its atmosphere, are frequently linked to solar flares and can result in geomagnetic storms. However, in this instance, scientists did not observe any CMEs leaving the region of the solar flare.

Newsweek reports that the X-class solar flare was produced by the sunspot AR3182 as it emerged from the far side of the sun onto the Earth side after being visible for less than 24 hours.

Tuesday's Possible X-Class Solar Flare

Tuesday, just a few days ago, the sunspot may have caused another X-class eruption while it was still on the far side of the sun. This event was picked up by the SDO and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Even though SWPC scientists predicted that the CME would just miss Earth in the coming days, SOHO discovered one as a result of the event.

The solar flare on Tuesday was "very powerful," according to the SDO data-possibly an X-class event. However, because it happened on the far side, much of the radiation was prevented from reaching Earth. According to astronomer Tony Phillips, who runs SpaceWeather.com, this significantly decreased its apparent intensity as satellites only detected a C-class event.

There is a significant risk that AR3182 will continue to produce powerful solar flares. According to SpaceWeather.com, there is a high likelihood that explosions at the same site will continue over the next few days due to the magnitude and complexity of this active region.