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Huge solar flare erupts on the sun from 'hyperactive' sunspot

10 January 2023 15:35 (UTC +04:00)

A massive explosion on the sun unleashed a powerful solar flare from a new sunspot on Monday (Jan. 9), one that is slowly turning to face the Earth, APA reports.

The solar flare erupted at 1:50 p.m. EST (1850 GMT) as an X1.9-class sun storm that caused a temporary but strong, radio blackout across parts of South America, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean, according to a statement(opens in new tab) from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. X-class flares are the strongest types of storms from the sun. Monday's flare came from the same sunspot that fired off an X1.2-class solar flare on Jan. 5, NOAA reported.

"The source is hyperactive sunspot AR3184," astronomer Tony Phillips of the space weather website SpaceWeather.com wrote in an update(opens in new tab). "None of the debris plumes will hit Earth; the sunspot is not facing our planet. It will turn in our direction later this week."

Solar flares are intense eruptions from the surface of the sun that explode at a variety of power levels. The weakest flares, classified as A-, B- or C-type storms, are typically minor. The stronger M-class flares can fling charged particles at Earth that supercharge our planet's auroras, amplifying displays of northern lights and southern lights.