The AR3842 sunspot exploded again this October 3, producing the solar flare strongest yet of Solar Cycle 25, which began in 2019 and lasts eleven years.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the explosion of category X 9.1, which even exceeds the enormous flare the space agency.
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Radiation from the flare ionized the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere and caused a deep shortwave blackout over Africa and the South Atlantic. Radio amateurs in the area may have noticed signal loss on frequencies below 30 MHz for half an hour after 12:18 UTC, Spaceweather.com reports.
Of greatest interest is coronal mass ejection. Preliminary SOHO coronagraph images show a halo CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) emerging from the explosion site. This CME will likely impact Earth on October 6, adding its effect to that of a coronal mass ejection with intensity X7.1 recorded on October 1 that is expected to arrive on October 4, according to the same source.