A powerful solar explosion that also significantly affected the shortwave radio coverage over Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand ionised the upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere. A sunspot named AR3256, which was near the star's southwestern limb, was the reason for the solar flare.
The outburst was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which keeps watch over the sun. This was a flare, and it was an X1.2. The strongest flares are those with the X-class designation; their power is further indicated by the number.
Solar flares are very energetic blasts, according to NASA. Astronauts and spacecraft are at risk when the sun erupts or flares because these events can interfere with radio communications, power grids, and navigational signals.
There have already been seven such explosions from the sun in the first three months of 2023. It's the same as how many solar flares there were overall in 2022. As the sun goes through its solar cycle towards its apogee, the explosion is an indication that its activity is rising quickly.
Only days earlier, Earth had been hit by the greatest geomagnetic storm in three years. When energy from the solar wind is transferred into the space environment around Earth, especially effectively, geomagnetic storms cause a severe disruption of the magnetosphere.
Plasma blasted last week, reaching a height equivalent to 14 Earths stacked high above the surface of the sun. In the past week alone, the Sun has been responsible for four significant solar flares, 22 coronal mass ejections, and a geomagnetic storm.
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