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X-Class Solar Flare Coming Friday

First time accepted submitter kit_triforce writes Satellites have just detected a powerful X1.6-class solar flare. The source was active sunspot AR2158, which is directly facing Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash. Ionizing radiation from the flare could cause HF radio blackouts and other communications disturbances, especially on the day-lit side of Earth. In the next few hours, when coronagraph data from SOHO and STEREO become available, we will see if a coronal mass ejection (CME) emerges from the blast site. If so, the cloud would likely be aimed directly at Earth and could reach our planet in 2 to 3 days.

2 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Made in America by smittyoneeach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd have likely died during the attempt at birth, and taken my mother with me. I'm kind of enamored of modern technology, for some reason.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  2. Wooo! by funwithBSD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    HAM bands in the VHF range will be opening up! I am going to rig for 10m and 15 and see what happens.

    I might a QSO from Europe with a little luck.

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra