Solar Flare Causes Radio Blackout In Some Parts Of Earth: Report

Amidst the global crisis, a major solar flare eruption from the sun has created concern worldwide. The recorded flare caused a spawning radio blackout for parts of Earth thus setting the stage for more flares to come, according to a media report on Monday.

According to the US Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) operated by NOAA, the huge solar flare was registered as a powerful X1.1-class event on the scale used for such sun storms, peaking at 10.48 a.m. EST (1548 GMT) on Saturday.

It is supposed to have originated from an area of the sun called ‘Active Region 3217’ creating a temporary radio blackout over South America, the centre reported, claiming NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory videos support the fact.

In the future, we are likely to witness more flares from this region as it moves across the sun creating occasional degradation of high frequency (3-30 MHz) communication, confirms the SWPC officials. 

Solar flares are massive eruptions of charged particles on the sun coming in a variety of intensities, with the smaller A-class and C-class flares denoting relatively minor events while the stronger M-class flares lead to amplify the auroras seen on Earth. And X-class is the strongest type of solar flare.

The strongest X-class flare was recorded two decades back in 2003 and registered as an X28 flare before it overwhelmed the space weather sensors measuring it.

Meanwhile, according to Spaceweather, which tracks space weather events, no CME was associated with Saturday's X1.1 solar flare.