NASA Captures An 'X-Class' Solar Flare, Event Causes A Temporary Radio Blackout

Source: International Business Times

NASA Captures An 'X-Class' Solar Flare, Event Causes A Temporary Radio Blackout

By Charles Poladian
on October 25 2013 11:29 AM

The sun emitted an intense solar flare in the early hours of Oct. 25. The "X-class" solar flare is the most intense class of flares and NASA expects to see plenty of activity as the sun reaches solar maximum.

Solar maximum is the normal peak of solar activity during the sun's 11-year solar cycle. At 4:01 a.m. EDT on Oct. 25, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO, observed an X1.7 class solar flare. According to NASA, the intensity of X-class flares is starts at X1 with an X2-class flare is double the strength of an X1 and an X3 solar flare is triple the intensity of an X1. During the current solar cycle, researchers observed an X6.9 solar flare on Aug. 9, 2011.

An X-class solar flare as well as a coronal mass ejection, CME, won't affect humans on Earth as the particles cannot penetrate the planet's atmosphere, but these intense solar events can cause radio and satellite blackouts. Such was the case with Friday's solar flare.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center recorded a strong blackout as a result of the solar flare. According to the report, "A spot group just on the visible disk, dubbed Region 1882, generated an impulsive R3 (Strong) Radio Blackout at 0801 UTC (4:01 a.m. EDT) on October 25." An R3 radio blackout is typically associated with X1 solar flares and affects a wide area of high frequency radio communication on the sunlit side of Earth for around an hour while low-frequency navigation signals are impaired for around an hour.

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