A powerful “solar flare” recently caused a widespread radio blackout on September 16, impacting numerous radio stations across Africa and the Middle East.
The intense solar flare was recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
The extremely bright solar flare, classified as M8, erupted from a gigantic sunspot directed straight toward Earth. The event occurred at 5:49 AM EDT on September 16, which corresponds to 16:49 on September 16 in Vietnam.
This moment was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a spacecraft tasked with observing the Sun.
According to Spaceweather.com, various effects were felt on Earth, particularly radio operators in Africa and the Middle East, who experienced signal distortion and interference for up to one hour following the flare’s impact.
A solar flare event from the Sun – (Photo: SDO/NASA)
Solar flares are intense bursts of energy released from our parent star. When they strike Earth, they interact with the magnetosphere, disrupting the magnetic field and causing what is known as a “geomagnetic storm” or solar storm.
