“One of the biggest ever recorded”

Strange but true

by Ben Cost

BREAKING FOR IMPACT: Scientists warn that the Sun has just unleashed the most powerful solar flare in six years, knocking out radio frequencies and could hit Earth within several days.

“This is likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded.” NOAA wrote Thursday in a report Regarding the flare that occurs as a result of local explosions on the surface of the Sun Expel intense bursts of electromagnetic radiation.

This alarming solar event occurred on Thursday after an active sunspot called AR 3514 erupted with a large solar flare of magnitude X.28 – The strongest variety that the sun can produceAs seen in ominous images taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

This was the most intense explosion our star has produced since September 2017.

This catastrophic starburst generated a massive amount of radiation, causing a massive radio outage in South America, causing radio signals to be interrupted and even completely lost for several hours.

while, Several parts of the United States They experienced a shortwave power outage.

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the geomagnetic iceberg.

At the same time, the Sun produced a coronal mass ejection (CME) — a cloud-like ejection of plasma and magnetic field from the outer layer of a star’s atmosphere — which scientists could aim toward Earth.

If this is the case, we could see a geomagnetic storm on December 17.

These solar storms have the potential to damage satellites and cause months-long Earth blackouts with billions of dollars in damage.

according to Recent studyThis geomagnetic event can… Even disabling railway systems By turning train signals from red to green like something out of a Roland Emmerich apocalypse thriller.

Fortunately, scientists expect that our storm is likely to be minor, at most causing power grid fluctuations and wireless communications outages, among other impacts.

On a brighter note, a coronal ejection can supercharge the aurora, meaning it can Give people in New England a view of the Northern Lights.