NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a massive solar flare on July 3rd and it was also the first X-class event recorded since September 2017. As the massive flare escaped from the Sun, some of its radiation reached Earth and caused a temporary blackout over the Atlantic Ocean. This pulse of X-ray radiation interacted with the planet’s magnetic field and temporarily disrupted some electronic instruments and radio frequencies. Read more for a video and additional information.
These powerful flares occur when accelerated charged particles, mainly electrons, interact with the plasma medium. Researchers have found evidence to suggest that the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection leads to this extreme acceleration of charged particles, and for the Sun, this phenomenon may happen on solar arcades, or a series of closely occurring loops following magnetic lines of force.
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Yesterday, sunspot AR2838 burst through the surface of the Sun and promptly unleashed the strongest solar flare in four years. As quickly as it appeared, the sunspot is already gone. On July 4th it rotated over the sun’s northwestern limb, and will spend the next two weeks transiting the far side of the sun,” said news website Space Weather.
