NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare, seen as the bright flash on the far right. (NASA/SDO via SWNS)
By Dean Murray
A pair of powerful X-class flares from the Sun have caused radio blackouts this week.
Huge X-class flares knocked out signals across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, according to space.com, and there could be more to come.
The first occurred Tuesday, May 13, while the strongest solar flare of the year - classified as an X2.7 event - erupted on the other side of the Sun the next day.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured images of the events.
(NASA/SDO via SWNS)
The MET office's Space Weather forecast said Thursday, May 15, they predicted moderate "radio blackouts likely" with a "chance of isolated R3/Strong radio blackouts."
Solar flares can cause coronal mass ejections (CME); explosions of plasma and magnetic field that can cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth. However, it is thought the flares were not facing our planet.
NASA explains: "Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS & communications signals travel."
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