Solar flare

[TC Chris]

From spaceweather.com:

SOLAR FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT: Unstable sunspot AR3288 erupted today, May 1st at 1309 UT, producing a brief but intense M7-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, disrupting the normal propagation of radio transmissions on the planet below. Mariners and ham radio operators around the Atlantic Ocean may have noticed loss of signal below 20 MHz for as much as 30 minutes after the explosion.

This flare was probably too brief to lift a coronal mass ejection (CME) out of the sun's atmosphere. Stay tuned for confirmation from SOHO coronagraphs in the hours ahead. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.


Chris Campbell

[William]

Chris, would that have caused "second" power outages today? We experienced about three here in the Hart area.

Bill

[TC Chris]

Could be. I know there are concerns about solar activity and the electric grid.

Chris Campbell

[hermitcrab]

I'm waiting on the day a flare takes out all electronics and the human population is doomed because they don't know how to live without the internet...

[electra225]

Maybe some of us old farts who hold on to "that old stuff" will be in good stead. Our old landline phones may come in handy one of these days. And a good whole-house generator.