The sun unleashed a powerful side flare
The eruption came from a sunspot on the western limb of our local star, and represents the most powerful solar flare seen since 2017.
NASA's Observatory observed
the blast at 8:57 p.m. PT on Tuesday, causing a radio blackout for certain shortwave, aviation and other communications centered on Asia.
The flare was classified as an X2.2
X-class flares are the strongest category measured by scientists, and higher numbers following the X represent an increase in the power of the eruption.
NASA recorded few X1 flares
in the past year, but this is the strongest seen since the sun blasted off a pair of monster X-class flares, including an X9, in the second week of September 2017.
Latest explosion was accompanied by
a coronal mass ejection, which is charged plasma that moves slower and can create gorgeous auroras when it collides with Earth's magnetic field.
The energy emitted by a flare,
moves at the speed of light and propagates in all directions throughout the solar system, which caused the radio blackout the same time the flare could be seen.