Solar flare knocks out some radio temporarily

Federal forecasters say a brief but strong solar flare Wednesday morning temporarily blacked out a few radio communication systems before weakening.

Space Weather Prediction Center forecaster Christopher Balch said it affected radio that uses part of the . That includes some radar and plane systems, but not all, and amateur radio.

The storm came from a large group of sunspots and hit Earth between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. EDT. Balch said the storm briefly was rated as strong for affecting Earth radio systems but then dropped to minor levels.

He said so far forecasters see no high-energy particles coming from the flare. That means other effects are not expected, such as changes in the colorful northern lights, or harm to the or satellites.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Solar flare knocks out some radio temporarily (2014, October 22) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2014-10-solar-flare-radio-temporarily.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Scientists: Strong solar storm heading to Earth (Update)

0 shares

Feedback to editors