09 September, 2017
The biggest solar flare of the decade was recorded by NASA on September 6, 2017.
According to Sansa, the burst of radiation was so intense, it caused high-frequency radio blackouts on the daytime side of Earth, affecting high-frequency communication over Africa, Europe, and the Atlantic Ocean. It turns out, you can actually use the glasses to spot a common - yet fascinating - feature of the sun. "The impact of the CME has sparked a strong geomagnetic storm on Earth which can have effects on HF (High Frequency) communication, power grids, navigation systems such as GPS, and communication systems such as DStv, mobile phones and internet connectivity". According to Daily Mail, the powerful solar explosions originated in one of the Sun's active region.
The same region was also the origin of the mid-level intensity eruptions observed last September 4. CMEs release huge clouds of plasma - charged particles from inside the sun - that take up to three days to reach Earth.
Solar cycles last on average 11 years. The largest solar flare ever recorded was an X20 in April 2001. The first was classified as X2.2, which was quickly followed by another identified as X9.3.
History shows that most recent flare that displayed a similar intensity was an X9 flare which about 12 years.
Solar flares explode when the magnetic field of the sun twists and reconnects.
As the magnetic field roils and flips over the course of its cycle, it knots the sun's plasma into tangled storms called sunspots, which are the source of flares and coronal mass ejections. Measuring the strength of flares is similar to the use of the Richter scale for quake magnitude. Harmful radiation from a flare can not pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground.
Sansa said the storms did not pose a danger to humans. But if the "solar storm" is powerful enough, it can affect the layers of the atmosphere where communications signals are and eventually lead to the disturbance of electronic devices and hardware odd functioning.
And it's not just the timing that's causing researchers to raise their eyebrows, but also the size of the flare itself.
