sun Wednesday triggered a massive solar flare that has the potential to affect satellite communications and the global positioning system, center of excellence Space Science India (cesi) said.
This flare is classified as an X-class which shows the most intense flare. The X2.2-class solar flare eruption from the solar magnetic active region AR12992 occurred at 3:57 UTC (9.27 IST). According to the US Space Weather Forecasting Site, “it originated from a region beyond the southwest limb of the Sun.” NOAA Space Weather,
“A strong ionospheric disturbance is continuing over India, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. expected high frequency communications blackouts, satellite anomalies, GPS Twinkle, airline communication effect,” CESSI said on Twitter.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can affect radio communications, electrical power grids and navigation signals and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts. During a solar flare, highly energetic charged particles are ejected from the Sun at speeds close to the speed of light. These rays can disturb the ionosphere region of EarthWhich plays an important role in radio communication, explains NASA,
According to the US space agency NASA, the largest flares are known as ‘X-class flares’ based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest are the A-classes (near background levels), followed by the B, C, M and X.
Similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. It has been said that an X class flare is 10 times that of an M class explosion and a C class flare is 100 times.
This flare is classified as an X-class which shows the most intense flare. The X2.2-class solar flare eruption from the solar magnetic active region AR12992 occurred at 3:57 UTC (9.27 IST). According to the US Space Weather Forecasting Site, “it originated from a region beyond the southwest limb of the Sun.” NOAA Space Weather,
“A strong ionospheric disturbance is continuing over India, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. expected high frequency communications blackouts, satellite anomalies, GPS Twinkle, airline communication effect,” CESSI said on Twitter.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can affect radio communications, electrical power grids and navigation signals and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts. During a solar flare, highly energetic charged particles are ejected from the Sun at speeds close to the speed of light. These rays can disturb the ionosphere region of EarthWhich plays an important role in radio communication, explains NASA,
According to the US space agency NASA, the largest flares are known as ‘X-class flares’ based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest are the A-classes (near background levels), followed by the B, C, M and X.
Similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. It has been said that an X class flare is 10 times that of an M class explosion and a C class flare is 100 times.