The sun has unleashed the strongest solar flare of the year, triggering strong radio blackouts across the globe.
Early Tuesday morning, an X-class solar flare — the biggest kind — shot out of a newly emerging sunspot called AR4087. Sunspots are cool, dark regions on the sun’s surface where the magnetic field is much stronger than anywhere else.
These areas of intense magnetic activity can emit bursts of plasma called solar flares. If a flare is large enough and directed toward Earth, it can send radiation hurtling toward our planet.
When those charged particles reach the outer layer of Earth’s atmosphere, they create long lasting radiation storms — or geomagnetic storms — that may trigger radio blackouts, knock out power grids and damage satellites.
The geomagnetic storm caused by Tuesday’s solar flare led to strong radio blackouts across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
This is a developing story. More updates to come.
The sun has unleashed the strongest solar flare of the year, triggering strong radio blackouts across the globe (STOCK)
