Sun emits most powerful solar flare since 2017

On Dec. 14, 2023, the Sun released a powerful X-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash: The strong X2.8-class solar flare- emitted from the Sunspot 3514.

This is the most potent eruption the sun has produced since the great storms of Sept. 2017. A big explosion on the Sun might have shot out an intense burst of solar material called a coronal mass ejection (CME). The US Air Force noticed a special kind of radio burst that usually happens with CMEs. The speed of this CME could be breakneck, more than 2100 km/s (4.7 million mph).

As mentioned in spaceweather.com, “Radiation from the flare has caused a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Americas: blackout map. Ham radio operators may have noticed a signal loss at all frequencies below 30 MHz for more than 30 minutes after the flare.”

X-class flares have more than ten times the power of an X1 so that X-class flares can go higher than 9. powerful X-class flares like that can create long-lasting radiation storms, which can harm satellites and even give airline passengers, flying near the poles, small radiation doses. X flares can also potentially create global transmission problems and worldwide blackouts.

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