One of the strongest types of solar flares erupted on the sun. This is how it affected Earth.
A massive solar flare erupted from the sun over the weekend, causing radio blackouts on Earth – and more could be on the horizon.
The sun emitted the solar flare on Saturday, peaking around 10:48 a.m. EST, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. The flare, which came from a part of the sun named active region 3217, was designated a X1.1 flare, one of the strongest types of flares the sun can produce.
More flares from the region could be coming, the Space Weather Prediction Center predicts.
Here's what to know about the flare and its effects:
What is an X-class solar flare?
Solar flares – giants explosions on the sun that NASA says send energy, light and particles throughout our solar system – have a designated classification system to determine their strength. They are divided into these categories:
- X-class: strongest
- M-class
- C-class
- B-class
- A-class: weakest
Each letter class represents a tenfold increase in energy output, NASA says, so an X-class is 10 times stronger than M-class, 100 times stronger than a C-class, and so on.
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How strong can a X-class solar flare be?
X-class flares can be 10 times the size of Earth, according to NASA.
"The biggest X-class flares are by far the largest explosions in the solar system and are awesome to watch," NASA says. "In the biggest events, this reconnection process can produce as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs."
Within each class is a number scale, 1 to 9, to determine its exact impact. But X-class flares can go higher than 9, as in 2003, when a flare was so strong that it overloaded measuring sensors when it reached X28.
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X1.1 flare effects on Earth
When the flare's emissions Saturday reached Earth, they caused a temporary radio blackout over South America, according to Spaceweather.com.
When solar storms erupt, they can send out a coronal mass ejection – sun material – out into space, which can interfere with communication and navigation systems on Earth, along with power grids, depending on the flare's strength. Luckily, the X1.1 flare did not produce a coronal mass ejection, Spaceweather.com said.
But the additional potential flares from the region could allow for more hits to Earth, the center said.
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