Solar Flare Triggers Radio Blackouts in Australia, Southeast Asia

Last night, a colossal solar flare erupted from a large, unstable sunspot, triggering radio blackouts on Earth and sending a scorching plasma plume racing through the sun’s atmosphere at speeds of 400 km/s, as reported by Space.com.

Solar flares are brief bursts of intense high-energy radiation emitted from the sun’s surface, often associated with sunspots, and can cause disruptions to radio and magnetic fields on Earth.

According to solar physicist Keith Strong, who shared details of the event on X, the prolonged solar flare originated from the sunspot region AR3575, commencing on Monday (Feb 5) at 8:30 pm EST (0130 GMT on Feb 6) and reaching its peak at 10:15 EST (0315 GMT on Feb 6).

The eruption also resulted in coronal mass ejections (CME), described by NASA as massive bubbles of coronal plasma intertwined with intense magnetic field lines, ejected from the Sun. These CMEs have the potential to trigger geomagnetic storms on Earth, causing disruptions to various modern technologies.

While geomagnetic storms can create stunning auroras, they can also interfere with Earth-orbiting satellites. Strong noted that the region where the solar flare originated is positioned far south of the Sun, suggesting that it might pass beneath Earth.

The solar flare produced widespread radio blackouts due to the intense burst of X-rays and high ultraviolet radiation heading towards Earth. This radiation reached our planet in just over eight minutes, ionizing the upper layers of the atmosphere and causing shortwave radio blackouts in the sunlit areas for the duration.

Reports from Spaceweather.com indicated that Australia and Southeast Asia experienced shortwave blackouts, potentially affecting ham radio operators and mariners in the region with signal losses at frequencies below 30 MHz for approximately an hour.