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US suffers radio blackouts after being hit by ANOTHER solar storm, NOAA says
The sun released another powerful stream of energized particles toward Earth early Tuesday, causing blackouts over the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed disruptions over all of North America at about 12:51pm ET.
The solar flare, classified as an X8.8, was the the strongest to come from this cycle which started in 2017 - NOAA said it was a radio blackout level 3 (R3) on a scale from one to five.
The stream launched from a sunspot that has been pummeling our planet for the last few days, which NOAA had said is the size of the spot that caused the worst solar storm in history.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed communication disruptions over North and South America at around 12:51pm ET
Space weather physicist Dr Tamitha Skov told DailyMail.com: 'As for the big X-flare, it's the biggest of the cycle thus far.
'It would have been our first R4-level radio blackout, but it was partially blocked by the sun.
'The region that fired the flare is now mostly behind the sun's west limb so we can't even see it anymore.'
The current solar cycle started in mid-December 2016.
'We are now in the solar maximum phase,' Skov said.
'It is hard to tell if we have passed through the peak of solar maximum or not. (I doubt it because I think this cycle will have two peaks, just like last cycle.) Time will tell.'
The sunspot causing chaos in space is AR 3664, which grew to the size of the one that caused the 1859 Carrington event, which set telegraph stations on fire and cut communications worldwide.
AR 3664 rotated out of the view from Earth Tuesday, but said goodbye with one final blast.
The solar flare, classified as an X8.8, was the the strongest to come from this cycle yet, which began in 2017, clocking in as a high radio blackout level 3 (R3) on a scale from one to five
The powerful X-class flare erupted from the sun a little more than two hours before blackouts were reported over the US
Subatomic debris of electrons and protons from the flare could also hit our planet, which would cascade on the the surface.
The particles have the ability to disrupt satellite communications, cause radiation hazard for astronauts and interfere with power grids on the ground.
NOAA had predicted a 60 percent chance of that happening Tuesday.
The event, called a radiation storm, is guided by a magnetic field that curls out of the sun into our solar system.
As the sun rotates, the magnetic fields that emanate from it bend as they flow passed the planets in its orbit, creating a spiral structure known as the Parker Spiral.
Charged particles from a solar flare can become caught in these spirals, shooting them around back to Earth — when they would have otherwise missed our planet.
Tuesday's flare follows days of solar activity that caused NOAA had warned could have been the worst solar storm in 165 years.
The agency released a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch late Thursday the first time the alert has been issued in 20 years.
Geomagnetic storms take place when high-energy particles released from solar flares ejected by the sun reach Earth.
Shortly after the storm hit last Friday, farmers in Minnesota, Nebraska, and other parts of the American Midwest experienced satellite disruptions to the 'global positioning system' (GPS) equipment that they depend on for operating their equipment.
Many farms now use GPS to more efficiently and precisely plant crops in straight rows, reducing errors like overlapping seed beds or gaps of unused soil.
But the storm also brought stunning North Lights across the world.
Million of Americans from Maine to Alabama were also able to see the natural light show.