An intense solar event occurred in the early hours of February 6, as a sunspot unleashed a powerful M4-class solar explosion, according to a report by Indiatoday.in.
“This significant solar activity sent a hot plume of plasma hurtling through the sun’s atmosphere at speeds exceeding 1,440,000 kilometers per hour, culminating in the formation of a coronal mass ejection (CME),” said the report.
The extreme ultraviolet radiation from the solar flare ionised the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout across Australia.
Following the solar flare’s peak intensity, ham radio users and maritime operators experienced signal loss below 30 megahertz for up to an hour.
According to the report, the coronal mass ejection was not observed in the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) coronagraphs, but evidence of its existence was provided by the US Air Force. It reported a type-II radio burst.
The sunspot AR3575 is characterised by a complex beta-gamma-delta magnetic field configuration. It suggests the potential for even more powerful X-class solar flares.
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