NASA confirms recent solar flare was so big it could have affected people on the ground

NASA has confirmed that only a few days ago, the Sun released a solar flare so powerful that its radiation could have reached Earth's surface.

The space agency, along with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), confirmed on Sunday, July 2, the Sun released an X-class solar flare, which can be traced back to a sunspot known as AR3354 bursting. Notably, this sunspot is approximately seven times larger than the Earth, and when it burst, it released the strongest type of solar flare, smacking Earth with ionized radiation that resulted in a 30-minute radio black over western parts of the United States and Pacific Ocean.

The flare was between the 10th and 14th biggest flare of this year's solar cycle, solar cycle 25, according to Solar physicist Keith Strong, who took to Twitter with the information. NASA's official Sun & Space Twitter account shared a video of the sunspot bursting, explaining, "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."

Notably, the Sun has broken a record that was set more than 20 years ago as our local star is approaching its solar maximum. Its produced the most sunspots in a month since 2002. As the Sun barrels toward its solar maximum, we can expect more events such as these as more sunspots are produced and solar flares are endured. If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out the link located below.

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