[Reading Science] Ultra-Powerful Solar Flare Explosion... "Partial Communication Outage"

Revealed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Solar flare explosion. Photo by NASA

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A powerful flare erupted from the sun at the beginning of the new year, causing disruptions in high-frequency communications in some areas.

On the 6th (Eastern Time, USA), NASA announced that the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) detected an X1.2-class flare, the highest level, erupting from the sun at around 7:57 PM on the 5th.

A flare is a phenomenon where an enormous amount of light and energy temporarily explodes from the sun's surface. They are classified by intensity into A, B, C, M, and X classes. When an X-class flare occurs, it can pose risks to satellites and astronauts. For several days, radio communications, power grids, and navigation signals can suffer serious disruptions.

Accordingly, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasted that high-frequency radio communications would experience reduced sensitivity over wide areas, and in regions exposed to sunlight, communications could be cut off for up to an hour.