The Sun blasted the biggest solar flare in 4 years, displaying quite the cosmic fireworks. NASA even released an incredible video of the event captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
The solar flare came from a sunspot dubbed AR2838 and it was classified as a mighty X-1 class sun event.
Here is what you need to know.
Astonishing Sun Flare: What Should You Know
As per the US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the recent giant sun flare caused a short radio blackout on Earth.
NASA published a video featuring the event. You can watch it below:
You can notice a huge flare erupting right from the upper right limb of the Sun.
“This sunspot region developed overnight and was also responsible for an M2 flare (R1 – Minor Radio Blackout) at 07:17 UTC on 03 July,” stated SWPC officials.
X-class solar flares
These X-class solar flares are considered one of the most powerful types of eruptions on the Sun. If beamed right at our planet, the most dominant ones can severely put astronauts’ lives in danger and wreck space satellites a lot.
The solar flares could also interfere with power grids here on Earth. They’re really quite the brutes and they’re not alone!
Moderate M-type solar flares are also capable of creating quite the havoc. They can supercharge our planet’s auroras with shining displays.
Sunspot AR2838
Recent sunspot AR2838 is a new active area on the Sun, which is genuinely intriguing yet dangerous. According to scientists, the sunspot’s giant flare classified as a class X1.5 on the scale tracked Sun phenomena and now has changed its position, around to the far side of the Sun.
What’s more intriguing is that the sunspot AR2838 disappeared as quickly as it appeared. On 4 July it reached the Sun’s northwestern limb, and it will transit the far side of the star in the next two weeks.