Blackout: Multiple X-class solar flares hit the US, knocking out radio signals across the country

Although the Sun is responsible for maintaining a pleasant temperature on our planet, it also serves as the origin of significant disturbances from time to time.

Recently, two massive solar flares emerged from the Sun, which led to the disruption of radio signals across the United States. Solar physicist Keith Strong informed Space.com that the X1.5 Flare created a strong R3 radio blackout event on the sunlit side of the Earth, affecting regions such as the US, Canada, and the Pacific Ocean.

Radio blind
On Monday, August 7, a second solar flare, characterized as a high-frequency radio occurrence by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, impacted the Earth with its peak activity manifesting at 4:46 PM Eastern Time. Designated as an X1.5 flare, this solar event belongs to the most intense category of X-class solar flares according to EarthSky. The outcome of the flare encompassed the deterioration and loss of high-frequency radio signals, primarily on the illuminated portion of the planet.

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NASA tweeted following the Monday event that solar flares are potent surges of radiation.

“Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground,” NASA tweeted following Monday’s event. “However—when intense enough—they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS & communications signals travel.”

While the harmful radiation cannot traverse Earth’s atmosphere to directly affect humans on the ground, these flares possess the capability, when exceptionally forceful, to disrupt the atmospheric layer through which GPS and communication signals travel.

Two solar flares within days
Preceding the Monday solar flare was another solar outburst that transpired merely two days earlier, peaking at 6:21 PM Eastern Time on August 5, as reported by NASA. This solar flare, classified as another X-class occurrence, exceeded Monday’s flare slightly in strength, measuring an intensity of X1.6.

Solar flares can impact our terrestrial environment by disturbing radio signals, and they can also pose risks for space travel. In the previous September, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft jointly operated by ESA and NASA encountered some of the Sun’s plasma due to a coronal mass ejection emitted by the star a few days before. Fortunately, the Solar Orbiter was designed to endure the tumultuous heliosphere, resulting in its survival. Nonetheless, unprepared satellite missions could face insurmountable challenges posed by solar storms.