Previously hidden sunspots unleash massive X-class solar flare

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A newly appeared sunspot is beginning to reveal its presence, releasing a powerful Class X solar flare that has caused shortwave radio outages across the southern Pacific Ocean.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a massive solar flare on Thursday (January 5) at 7:45 p.m. EDT (0045 GMT on January 6). The explosion blasted out a hot, glowing dome of plasma that remained over sunspot AR3182 for more than an hour, according to Spaceweather.com (opens in a new tab). Because of the Sun’s rotation, the vital sunspot will soon face Earth and could continue its explosive activity in the coming days.

Solar flares are categorized by size into letter groups, with Class X being the strongest. Within each category, numbers 1 through 10 (and beyond, for Class X flares) indicate the relative strength of the glow. Recording the last flare at X1.2, it’s a relatively weak example of the strongest class.

AR3182 has also been linked to the violent eruption on Tuesday (January 3) that sent a coronal mass ejection (CME), a giant cloud of magnetized plasma, shooting into space. At that time, the sunspot was hidden on the far side of the Sun, so the volcanic eruption posed no danger to Earth.

Related: A giant cloud of plasma explodes from the Sun, but luckily it won’t hit Earth

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded solar flare X1.2 on Jan. 5, 2023, at 7:45 p.m. EDT (0045 GMT on Jan. 6). (Image credit: NASA/SDO/Helioviewer.org) (Opens in a new tab)

Solar flares occur when magnetic energy builds up in the sun’s atmosphere and is released in an intense wave of electromagnetic radiation. More powerful M- and X-class flares can cause slight to widespread radio darkening on the side of Earth facing the Sun at the time of the eruption.

This is exactly what happened when a recent X1.2 solar flare sent a powerful pulse of X-rays and intense ultraviolet light toward Earth. Traveling at the speed of light, the radiation reached Earth in just over eight minutes and ionized the uppermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere – the thermosphere – causing shortwave radio blackouts across the South Pacific Ocean.

A shortwave radio outage was recorded over the South Pacific Ocean after a Class X solar flare erupted on January 5, 2023. (Image credit: NOAA/SWPC) (Opens in a new tab)

According to Spaceweather.com, to date, no CME has been observed exiting the region after the massive flare.

Solar activity is on the rise as part of Solar Cycle 25, which scientists expect to peak in 2025. To see if there’s a solar flare today and to keep up with the latest space weather findings, visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Division Weather Prediction Center (opens in a new tab) to see the latest solar X-ray data from the agency’s GOES weather satellites floating over the eastern and western United States

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