A massive explosion on the sun propelled active particles at speeds of 900,000 miles per hour through space, resulting in power outages near Australia and South Asia. Reports of the incident emerged on Tuesday morning, indicating disruptions to radio communications and devices for mariners. The long-duration flare began on Monday, with the solar storm reaching our planet yesterday. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center indicates a 45% chance of further communication disruptions in the coming days.
Physicists noted that the explosion was characterized by an M-class flare, which can cause small (R1) to moderate (R2) radio outages on the sunlit side of the Earth. The event affects frequencies used in aviation communications, government timing stations, weather stations, amateur radio, and more. Strong M-class flares can result in coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are large clouds of plasma and magnetic field from the sun. CMEs can produce geomagnetic storms that temporarily disrupt Earth's magnetic field and the satellites orbiting it.
