NASA captures image of strong solar flare as it erupts on the Sun

Solar flares and radio blackouts

Electromagnetic radiation that erupts during a solar flare can last from a few minutes to hours, Space Weather Prediction Center (SPWC) states on its website. Since the electromagnetic outburst travels at the speed of light, it affects the sunlit part of the Earth immediately after the event has occurred. 

The high levels of X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) radiation in solar flares interact with the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and ionize them. The upper layers of the atmosphere are used to refract high-frequency (HF) radio waves typically used in navigation systems and radio communication. When these radio waves meet highly ionized layers of the atmosphere, they lose their energy due to the frequency of collisions, resulting in their degradation or complete absorption. This leads to a radio blackout during the period when the upper layers of the atmosphere stay ionized. 

Radio blackouts are also classified on the basis of their intensities, ranging from R1 to R5 extreme. 

The solar flares on May 3rd

As we mentioned earlier during our coverage, the Sun is currently in an active phase of its solar cycle and has been sending out solar flares over the last month. 

On May 3rd, it sent out a Class M flare at 8:19 pm ET, which was captured by NASA's SDO and its image widely shared. Less than an hour later, there was a more powerful flare, an X-class flare that erupted from the solar surface, causing an R3 level radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean region, which was sunlit, around this time. 

The SWPC predicted radio blackouts of up to an hour following this flare, which was about the same strength as the one that hit Asia and Australia during the Easter weekend last month.