The Sun has caused a powerful solar flare in the last 24 hours, raising concerns about radio blackouts.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said there is a 65 percent chance that flight communications and satellite operations will be disrupted this week.
The powerful energized particles are being spewed out by sunspot AR3738, which has been particularly active in recent days.
There are at least 12 currently active sunspots on the Sun facing Earth’s direction.
It forms the second X-class solar flare this week – the strongest type of solar flare.
The solar flare erupted from the sun on July 16, followed by a radio blackout in the Atlantic Ocean.
Radio stations across Africa, Europe, and parts of North and South America were also affected.
What are solar flares?
According to NASA, a solar flare is an “intense explosion of radiation from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots”.
They are the biggest explosive events in our solar system.
While they can cause radio blackouts, they also bring the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, to Earth.
Aurora is the dance between solar particles and Earth’s magnetic field that makes the upper atmosphere shine.
Once AR3738 has spun out of view, Earth is expected to see fewer solar flares shooting toward it.
That said, the Sun is currently in a period of intense activity.
This also means there is expected to be a huge increase in Northern Lights sightings from this year until 2025.
This is because we are entering the Sun’s Solar Maximum – when solar activity peaks during the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle.
During this period, the Sun produces “dramatically more” auroral displays, explains Darren Baskill, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Sussex.
Sunspots become twice as likely during Solar Maximum, which lasts between three and five years.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story