Nasa has released an alert after the Sun emitted a strong solar flare late on Sunday.
Solar flares are intense blasts of energy that emerge from the volatile atmosphere of the Sun. Such eruptions can lead to problems for radio communications, electric power grids, navigation systems and lead to risks for astronauts and spacecraft.
The flare comes as emergency responders in the US look to respond to Hurricane Ian, and so may have experienced problems with radio communications – which are used when phone networks are down – as well as navigation signals.
The latest flare could just be the beginning of a number of flares and coronal mass ejections in the days to come. The world is now facing a “large complex region” on the Sun, which could lead to more activity.
The new flare is an X1 flare. X is the most powerful possible class of flare – though the “1” indicates that it is the lowest possible flare to reach that classification.
It led to an alert posted on the Nasa’s website, which was also shared by senior Nasa administrator Thomas Zurbuchen.
The space agency released an image of the flare as it left the Sun, using its Solar Dynamics Observatory. That spacecraft continually monitors the Sun, in part to watch for such flares.
The latest flare was emitted from the Sun on Sunday, peaking at 4.25pm eastern time.
It led to radio blackouts, according to NOAA, and was joined by a solar wind that could cause power grid problems and cause difficulties for satellites.
The other coronal mass ejections or CMEs that may head towards Earth may start arriving in the coming days, after they left the Sun from that large sunspot on its northwest edge, according to the Met Office. Space weather may continued to be unsettled for much of the rest of the week, it said.
