A powerful solar flare temporarily disrupted navigation and radio signals across North America. The partial blackout, on Monday 7 August, was caused by the swarm of cosmic particles, i.e. a coronal mass ejection classified in the X1.5 category, the most powerful, which followed an even stronger flare by just two days but which it has only skimmed our planet.
According to the Spaceweather site, dedicated to space weather, the particles that have invested the natural magnetic shield that protects the planet could still generate some disturbances and increase the number of polar auroras. For about 18 months, the Sun has been registering intense activity with eruptions almost daily activity, which is expected to continue to intensify within an approximately 11-year cycle that is expected to culminate around 2025.
Both June and July recorded at least one class X flare, the most powerful in the classification used internationally, and in the first 10 days of August 2 were recorded: on 5 August a Cme of category X1.63 and on 7 August another of category X1.5. Contrary to what some models predicted, the second of the two flares did not cannibalize the first. In fact, it was hypothesized that the origin from a very close solar region and the short period of time between the two would have allowed the second flare to join and merge with the previous one, giving life to a so-called cannibal flare. But this did not happen and only the most recent of the two flares hit our planet’s magnetic field causing some damage to satellite communications and some radio wave frequencies. The blackout has been limited, but some secondary effects, in particular more polar auroras, could still be felt in the next few hours.
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Source: Ansa
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