The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared pictures of a solar flare that they claim is the strongest one in six years. This intense burst of light occurred on the surface of the sun, approximately 93 million miles away from Earth, and disrupted radio communication for a brief period on Thursday.

The organization recorded the vividly hued images of a CME, also referred to as a coronal mass ejection, using its solar dynamics observatory. This spacecraft was launched in 2010 and has the ongoing task of monitoring the sun’s movements.

According to Nasa, there was an X-class flare of extreme intensity that could potentially disrupt radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose hazards to spacecraft and astronauts.

On Thursday, there was a sudden increase in energy that resulted in radio disruptions for approximately two hours in certain areas of the United States and other regions during the day. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s space weather prediction center described it as a remarkable occurrence, potentially being one of the biggest solar radio events ever documented.

The center stated that its effect on radio communications was experienced from 12pm to 2pm ET on Thursday. They also mentioned that their scientists were examining other impacts of the CME, which was positioned above the far north-west region of the sun.

The center reported that it was the most intense solar flare observed since September 10, 2017. It was also significantly stronger than any others during the current solar cycle.

2 solar flare.

The majority of X-class solar flares that affect Earth are rated on a scale of one to nine. Thursday’s occurrence was labeled as an X8.2 solar flare.

The European Space Agency announced that the most intense solar flare ever recorded was an X28 event on November 4th, 2003.

Source: theguardian.com