According to reports, the sun blasted the largest solar flare since 2017, causing cosmic fireworks and even a minor radio blackout on Earth ahead of July 4. They said the solar flare came from a sunspot named AR2838 and was classified as an X-1 class sun event.
The enormous flare can be seen emerging from the sun’s upper right limb in a video released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The sunspot formed overnight, according to officials at the US Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC).
Dr. Tony Phillips, a space weather observer and astronomer, said the sunspot appeared to be a cloudless day that quickly turned stormy. He wrote at Spaceweather.com, ‘It didn’t even exist yesterday, highlighting the unpredictability of solar activity,’ ‘ It’s possible that more flares are on the way…,’ he added.
A solar flare, according to NASA, is a ‘intense burst of radiation’ caused by the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are the solar system’s largest explosive events, according to the researchers, and can be seen as ‘bright areas on the sun’ that last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Flares are primarily monitored using x-rays and optical light.
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