NASA: A Massive solar flare was THIS close to hit the Earth; Know what it could have done

tech.hindustantimes.com:

NASA, on May 3rd, tweeted that it observed a solar flare peaking at 9:25 AM EDT (6:55 PM IST) and it was caught in its Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) footage. While the space agency did not discuss any specific guidelines regarding its effects on Earth, it revealed that the solar storm missed Earth by a very small distance. Given that the solar flare captured was a one, the resultant solar storm could have led to some damage to communications infra on Earth. With the solar maximum nearing close, the intensity of solar storms have also been on the rise with radio blackouts and GPS interruptions happening every other week. The event took place on the sun's lower left side.

As reported by Space.com, the solar flare has been registered as an X1.1-class. This is the second such incident in a week coming from the Sun. Another active region of the Sun which has since turned away from Earth unleashed an X1.1-class flare on April 30. For the unaware, the solar flares classes are in the sequence of A, B, C, M, and X. The A is the tiniest, and the X is the largest. All the categories have nine subdivisions starting from the form A1 to A9 and ending at X1 to X9.

"Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel." NASA tweeted about the event.

According to SpaceWeather.com, the sunspot from the location of the flare has not yet been named. The source is said to be a new unnumbered sunspot emerging over the Sun's southeastern limb. Generally, auroras on the Earth are seen after a solar flare when the charged