The sun released another powerful stream of energized particles toward Earth Tuesday morning, causing blackouts across the United States.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed disturbances across North America around 12:51 p.m. ET.
The solar flare, classified as X8.8, was the strongest of this cycle that began in 2017; NOAA said it was a Level 3 (R3) radio blackout on a scale of one to five.
The stream emerged from a sunspot that has been hitting our planet for the past few days and which, according to NOAA, is the size of the spot that caused the worst solar storm in history.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed communications disruptions in North and South America around 12:51 p.m. ET.
Dr Tamitha Skov, space meteorological physicist, told DailyMail.com: ‘As for the large X flare, it is the largest of the cycle so far.
‘It would have been our first R4 level radio blackout, but it was partially blocked by the sun.
“The region that triggered the flare is now mostly behind the western edge of the sun, so we can’t even see it anymore.”
The current solar cycle began in mid-December 2016.
“We are now in the phase of solar maximum,” Skov said.
«It is difficult to know whether or not we have passed the peak of the solar maximum. (I doubt it because I think this cycle will have two peaks, just like the last cycle). Time will tell.’
The sunspot causing chaos in space is AR 3664, which has grown to the size of the one that caused the Carrington event of 1859, which burned down telegraph stations and disrupted communications around the world.
AR 3664 disappeared from view from Earth on Tuesday, but said goodbye with one last explosion.
The solar flare, classified as X8.8, was the strongest of this cycle, which began in 2017, registering as a high level of radio 3 (R3) blackout on a scale of one to five.
The powerful X-class flare emerged from the sun just over two hours before blackouts were reported in the US.
Subatomic remnants of electrons and protons from the flare could also impact our planet and cascade onto the surface.
The particles have the ability to disrupt satellite communications, cause radiation risks to astronauts, and interfere with electrical 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 flowing from the sun into our solar system.
As the sun rotates, the magnetic fields emanating from it bend as they pass the planets in its orbit, creating a spiral structure known as the Parker spiral.
Charged particles from a solar flare can become trapped in these spirals, launching them back to Earth when they otherwise would not have reached our planet.
Tuesday’s flare follows days of solar activity that prompted NOAA to warn it could have been the worst solar storm in 165 years.
The agency issued a severe geomagnetic storm warning (G4) Thursday night, the first time the alert has been issued in 20 years.
Geomagnetic storms occur when high-energy particles released by 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 outages to the ‘global positioning system’ (GPS) equipment they rely on to operate their equipment.
Many farms now use GPS to plant crops in straight rows more efficiently and accurately, reducing errors such as overlapping seedbeds or spaces of unused land.
But the storm also brought stunning northern lights around the world.
Millions of Americans from Maine to Alabama were also able to see the natural light show.