Massive X1 solar flare erupts on Sun; blast knocks out radio on Earth; scientists WORRIED

According to NOAA, a huge X1 solar flare, strong enough to cause radio blackout on Earth, erupted on the Sun yesterday. Know when it will hit Earth.

A massive solar flare went off on the Sun causing a shortwave radio blackout on Earth. There are other possible implications too. (nasa.gov)

The Earth is being bombarded by back-to-back geomagnetic storms since yesterday and this is expected to go on till tomorrow. In the meanwhile, another monstrous solar flare has erupted on the Sun. This solar flare is bigger than all the ones which have gone off this entire week. This will be the first X-class solar flare we have witnessed in a long time. It was so large that as it erupted, it caused a temporary shortwave radio blackout on Earth. The source of this solar prominence was the infamous AR2975 region on the Sun which has consistently bombarded our planet with geomagnetic storms this entire week. Now, this new solar storm has caused concern among scientists due to its destructive power.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent out an alert message for this solar flare eruption. The agency said, “An X1 flare (R3 - Strong Radio Blackout) occurred at 1:37 pm EDT (11:07 pm IST) March 30th, 2022. The flare source location was from the magnetically complex sunspot group, Region 2975. Initial indications are this flare was associated with a new coronal mass ejection (CME)”. While the higher altitudes of the northern hemisphere have enjoyed auroras this entire week due to the considerably weaker geomagnetic storms, this particular solar flare is capable enough to create a geomagnetic storm powerful enough to severely damage satellites.

An X1 solar flare explodes on the Sun

According to a SpaceWeatherLive report, the solar flare emitted a maximum X-ray flux of X1.38, making it the second strongest solar flare of this entire 11-year solar cycle. If the resultant solar storm was to hit the Earth, it would likely cause damage to both communication systems and satellites. Even localized power grid failures will not be out of the question.

Thankfully, the notorious region AR2975 is not centrally aligned with our planet, so there is a good chance that the solar storm may not hit us. But it might give a glancing blow to Earth. That's why, to understand the impact of this solar flare, the scientific community is constantly monitoring the Sun and any electromagnetic spikes coming from it. Typically, a geomagnetic storm takes 18-24 hours to brew after the eruption of a solar storm. As such, this one can hit us sometime tomorrow.