Radio Blackouts in Southern Africa Are Caused by an X-Class Solar Flare From Sunspot 3912

Radio Outages Seen Throughout Southern Africa The powerful flare affected high-frequency radio communications by ionizing Earth's upper atmosphere. The ionization caused the atmospheric density to rise, which weakened long-distance communication by absorbing radio signals, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. Due of the direct sunshine, there were noticeable interruptions across Southern Africa.Expert View on Solar Impact Dr. Tamitha Skov, a space weather physicist, said on social networking site X that the CME is probably only going to have a little impact on Earth. The solar storm will skim Earth to the west, she clarified in a statement. By midday on December 11, the structure may be deflected even further west by fast solar wind streams, causing minor consequences.

Knowing About Solar Flares and Their Impacts Strong explosions of electromagnetic radiation coming from the Sun are known as solar flares. They are categorized according to their strength into five groups: A, B, C, M, and X. The strongest flares, known as X-class flares, have the potential to seriously interfere with communication and satellite operations. This latest eruption highlights a period of activity in the present solar cycle, increasing the probability of similar occurrences in the future.