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Sun unleashes colossal X4.2 solar flare, knocking out radio signals across Africa and Europe (video)
Astronomy > Solar System > The Sun
Sun unleashes colossal X4.2 solar flare, knocking out radio signals across Africa and Europe (video)
News
By Daisy Dobrijevic published 3 hours ago
An impulsive X4.2 solar flare sparked strong radio blackouts across Africa and Europe as the giant sunspot continues to rage.
An impulsive X4.2 solar flare sparked strong radio blackouts across Africa and Europe as the giant sunspot continues to rage. (Image credit: Left: Mark Johnston, Right: NASA SDO)
The sun is certainly putting on quite the show this week. Earlier today (Feb. 4), it fired off another powerful solar flare, this time an X4.2, briefly disrupting radio communications across parts of western Africa and southern Europe as intense radiation flooded Earth's upper atmosphere.
The impulsive flare peaked at 7:13 a.m. EST (1213 GMT). It erupted from volatile sunspot group AR4366, a rapidly growing, magnetically complex region that has been unleashing a near-continuous barrage of potent solar flares since roaring into existence just days ago.
X-class solar flares are the most powerful type of solar flare and are capable of triggering widespread radio disturbances. They can also, at times, be accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — vast plumes of solar plasma and magnetic field that can spark geomagnetic storms and impressive auroras if Earth-directed. However, no CME signatures have been detected in imagery following this latest X4.2 eruption, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
Yet for all its fireworks, sunspot region 4366 is beginning to look like it has plenty of bark but very little bite. While the region has fired off multiple powerful solar flares in rapid succession, most have failed to hurl significant amounts of solar material into space. So far, only an earlier X8.4 flare was accompanied by a slow-moving CME, and that just landed at Earth with a glancing blow.
{snip}
Daisy Dobrijevic
Reference Editor
Daisy Dobrijevic joined Space.com in February 2022 having previously worked for our sister publication All About Space magazine as a staff writer. Before joining us, Daisy completed an editorial internship with the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and worked at the National Space Centre in Leicester, U.K., where she enjoyed communicating space science to the public. In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K. Daisy is passionate about all things space, with a penchant for solar activity and space weather. She has a strong interest in astrotourism and loves nothing more than a good northern lights chase!
Sun unleashes colossal X4.2 solar flare, knocking out radio signals across Africa and Europe (video)
News
By Daisy Dobrijevic published 3 hours ago
An impulsive X4.2 solar flare sparked strong radio blackouts across Africa and Europe as the giant sunspot continues to rage.
An impulsive X4.2 solar flare sparked strong radio blackouts across Africa and Europe as the giant sunspot continues to rage. (Image credit: Left: Mark Johnston, Right: NASA SDO)
The sun is certainly putting on quite the show this week. Earlier today (Feb. 4), it fired off another powerful solar flare, this time an X4.2, briefly disrupting radio communications across parts of western Africa and southern Europe as intense radiation flooded Earth's upper atmosphere.
The impulsive flare peaked at 7:13 a.m. EST (1213 GMT). It erupted from volatile sunspot group AR4366, a rapidly growing, magnetically complex region that has been unleashing a near-continuous barrage of potent solar flares since roaring into existence just days ago.
X-class solar flares are the most powerful type of solar flare and are capable of triggering widespread radio disturbances. They can also, at times, be accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — vast plumes of solar plasma and magnetic field that can spark geomagnetic storms and impressive auroras if Earth-directed. However, no CME signatures have been detected in imagery following this latest X4.2 eruption, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
Yet for all its fireworks, sunspot region 4366 is beginning to look like it has plenty of bark but very little bite. While the region has fired off multiple powerful solar flares in rapid succession, most have failed to hurl significant amounts of solar material into space. So far, only an earlier X8.4 flare was accompanied by a slow-moving CME, and that just landed at Earth with a glancing blow.
{snip}
Daisy Dobrijevic
Reference Editor
Daisy Dobrijevic joined Space.com in February 2022 having previously worked for our sister publication All About Space magazine as a staff writer. Before joining us, Daisy completed an editorial internship with the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and worked at the National Space Centre in Leicester, U.K., where she enjoyed communicating space science to the public. In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K. Daisy is passionate about all things space, with a penchant for solar activity and space weather. She has a strong interest in astrotourism and loves nothing more than a good northern lights chase!