Sun unleashes surprise X-class solar flare triggering radio blackout over southern Africa.
The sun appears to have woken from its slumber with an impulsive X-class solar flare, the most powerful class of solar flare.
The dramatic eruption originated from sunspot region 3912, reaching its peak at 4:06 a.m. EST (0906 GMT) on Dec. 8, and was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME) — a large plume of magnetic field and plasma from the sun. When CMEs (also known as solar storms) hit Earth’s magnetosphere they can trigger active geomagnetic storm conditions resulting in impressive auroras. Earth may receive a glancing blow from the CME released yesterday (Dec. 8) but only mild impacts are predicted, according to Space Weather Physicist Tamitha Skov.
“The #solarstorm launched will graze Earth to the west. Sadly, the coming fast solar wind streams might deflect the structure even further to the west. Expect only mild impacts by midday December 11,” Space
Weather Physicist Tamitha Skov wrote in a post on X.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/sun/sun-unleashes-impulsive-x-class-solar-flare-triggering-radio-blackout-over-southern-africa-video
Mike Terry to WOR iog (2024-12-09)