US radio blackout as historic sunspot erupts ‘outstanding’ X-Free

By /

A powerful solar flare has been fired from the same sunspot that caused the spectacular northern lights display on May 10.

The May 29 solar flare was measured to be an X1.4 class flare, one of the most powerful types of flares, and caused radio blackouts across the US and Western Europe.

The sunspot that emitted the flare, now called AR3697, was called AR3664 and was about 15 times the size of Earth when it fired a series of coronal mass ejections that slammed into Earth, triggering a geomagnetic storm that ignited the auroras to t ‘was seen throughout. 50 US states and even Mexico.

solar flare nasa
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory of the sun emitting a solar flare on May 29, 2024. The area circled in white is the sunspot emitting the bright flare.

NASA/SDO

After spending several weeks on the other side of the star as it orbited, the sunspot is back, and while it’s smaller, it’s still spewing flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

“Region 3697 (old Region 3664) is at it again! A long-duration X1.45 burst and a #solarstorm launch nearly directed at Earth. We could be drained by this storm’s shockwave within days. Daytime Radio Operators are definitely feeling this R3 level #Radioblackout!” space weather physicist Tamitha Skov posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

Solar flares are categorized as A, B, C, M or X, depending on their power, with the most powerful type being class X. Each category is 10 times more powerful than the previous one.

“Solar flares are usually associated with large, complex sunspots and occur with the sudden release of magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere. The greater the magnetic energy released, the stronger the flare will be.” solar,” Rami Qahwaji, one. said the professor of visual computing and space weather researcher at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom Newsweek.

Solar flares cause radio blackouts because they increase the ionization of the Earth’s ionosphere. Radio communications, especially those using high-frequency (HF) bands, rely on the ionosphere to reflect signals back to Earth, enabling long-distance communication.

X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a solar flare ionize the ionosphere, causing it to absorb radio waves instead of reflecting them. This absorption mainly affects the HF band (3 to 30 MHz), leading to communication interruptions.

In addition to causing radio disruptions, solar flares can have a number of other impacts on both technology and human activities. Increased radiation can damage or disrupt electronics and sensors on satellites, and increased atmospheric drag caused by the heating and expansion of Earth’s upper atmosphere can alter satellite orbits, requiring adjustments to avoid collisions or loss of function.

Additionally, the increased radiation levels at high altitudes pose a health risk to flight crews and passengers, or astronauts aboard the ISS. Solar flares can also interfere with the accuracy of GPS signals, leading to navigation errors.

A CME was also released from the sunspot at the same time as this solar flare, and is currently on its way to Earth.

“This burst was remarkable for its duration. The X-class phase alone lasted more than an hour — plenty of time to remove a CME from the Sun’s atmosphere,” spaceweather.com wrote.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center predicts that the CME could hit Earth between May 31 and June 1 and trigger a G2 geomagnetic storm. This may cause the auroras to be seen further south than usual, but not as far south as during the G5 storm on May 10.

“Aurora may become visible over several northern and upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho,” the center said in an advisory.