Recently, a minor shortwave radio blackout over the Indian Ocean area due to a newly formed sunspot which exploded, spitting out an M3-class solar flare on April 6. The affected countries included India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even China, Japan, and South Korea. The Sun has gradually become violent due to its Solar Cycle 29 which is expected to hit its peak in July 2025. Therefore, Earth is in for a rough ride until then. Recently, the Sun spewed out C-class solar flare which could make its way towards Earth soon.
According to a report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as many as 19 C-class flares were produced by the Sun yesterday, April 9. The strongest of them was a C-9.1 solar flare, just shy of an M-class solar flare which was hurled out. What's shocking in 18 of these solar flares originated from a single region known as AR3272 which has an unstable beta-gamma field, according to spaceweather.com.
There is a 95% chance of C-class solar flares hitting Earth today, but that is not it. As per the report, there is a 30% chance for M flares, and a 5% chance for X flares too.
While Earth's magnetosphere deflects most solar activity carried by the solar wind, some charged particles seep through. These energetic particles cause magnetic disturbances, classified as either geomagnetic storms or substorms. These storms can cause stunning sky phenomena known as Auroras or Northern Lights.
When solar particles hit Earth, the radio communications and the power grid is affected when it hits the planet's magnetic field. It can cause power and radio blackouts for several hours or even days. However, electricity grid problems occur only if the solar flare is extremely large.
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