Massive Weekend Solar Flare Was The Largest In Four Years

Scientists were surprised over the weekend when on Saturday, July 3, the Sun erupted in a massive solar flare. The solar flare was the largest since 2017. The flare originated from a sunspot called AR2838 at 10:29 AM EDT on Saturday.

It was classified as an X1-class solar event according to the US Space Weather Prediction Center. Officials note that the solar flare was large enough to cause a brief radio blackout on Earth. NASA observed the solar flare using the Solar Dynamics Observatory, which can be seen in the image below in the upper right side of the sun.

X-class solar flares are the strongest type of eruption originating on the sun. Solar flares pose a potential problem for astronauts and machinery in orbit around the Earth as the most powerful can endanger humans and hardware. Powerful solar flares can also impact the power grid on earth.

The beautiful auroras that some areas on Earth enjoy are created by less powerful M-class solar flares. Sunspot AR2838 is a new active region on the sun and also created a lesser M2 flare on July 3.