A huge solar flare escaped from the Sun! This solar flare terror is expected to hit Earth soon. This can lead to a strong solar storm that may well be strong enough to cause radio outages here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has notified about this. This solar flare erupted from the Sun’s surface on July 14 and headed toward Earth. Space weather expert Dr. Tamitha Skov tweeted her reaction to this solar flare unleashed by the Sun. So what are solar flares? Well, NASA says, “Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation that come from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Solar flares are the largest explosive events in our solar system. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and can to last from a few minutes to hours.” He also warns, “…the blackout will happen on July 18.” Tamitha Skov posted this on Twitter: “New area 3058 fires a M2.9 flare! It is now the fourth X-flare region on the Sun. NOAA puts the risk of an X-flare at 10%, but that could increase soon.” What does X-class flare mean? The X-factor for the solar flare indicates one of the most intense flares. And the number together with the symbol of the intensity of the solar flare indicates its strength. Solar flares are classified into four categories – A, B, C, M and X, based on their intensity. So the most powerful solar flare would be an X-classed solar flare while M denotes the second most powerful solar flare.
Effects of solar flares on Earth
Dr. Skov further added that “They are probably more likely to affect amateur radio operations on Earth day. GPS users remain vigilant near dawn and dusk.” This means that the solar storm is expected to cause significant power outages for GPS navigation systems on Earth. This means it is able to disrupt travel for small aircraft as well as ships. However, NOAA stated in its latest report, “A slight chance of S1 (Minor) solar storms will be present July 17-18, primarily due to the favorable location of active areas 3053 and 3055, as well as development occurring in the area 3056. ” NOAA has confirmed that power outages reaching R1 levels have been observed in the past 24 hours. One of the largest was on July 16, 2022 at 15:39 UTC. This poses an even further risk to Earth with the possibility of a small to moderate level or even a small chance of an R3, which is strong in nature, to occur on July 18 while observing the current active regions in the solar disk.
