The flare was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection that missed Earth
A surprise solar flare has burst from an area of dense magnetism on the sun’s surface, causing a temporary radio blackout in parts of Australia and all of New Zealand.
Sunspots are dark regions on the sun's surface where powerful magnetic fields, created by the flow of electrical charges, knot into kinks before suddenly snapping. The resulting release of energy launches bursts of radiation called solar flares and explosive jets of solar material called coronal mass ejections . A CME did accompany this flare, but it was not aimed at Earth.
The solar flare erupted unexpectedly and took scientists by surprise. "Our apologies there was no alert for this event. The flare was impulsive,” the solar activity tracking website SpaceWeatherLive wrote on Twitter. Once they reach Earth, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation produced by solar flares ionize atoms in our upper atmosphere, making it impossible to bounce high-frequency radio waves from them and creating a radio blackout. Radio blackouts occur over the areas lit by the sun during the time of the flare, and they are classified from R1 to R5, according to severity. This most recent flare caused a moderate R2 blackout.
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