Strong Solar Flare and CME - Radio Blackout Over Australia, New Zealand and SE Asia - Feb. 6. 2024.

A long duration M4.2 solar flare around was observed peaking at 03:11 UTC (Feb 6) around AR 3575. A hot plume of plasma lept away from the blast site faster than 400 km/s (900,000 mph). That plume ripped through the sun’s atmosphere and created a CME. We haven’t seen it yet in SOHO coronagraphs, but it’s there. Moments after the flare, the US Air Force reported a Type II radio burst caused by shock waves in the leading edge of a CME. Will it hit Earth? Fresh data from SOHO coronagraphs in the hours ahead will allow forecasters to start making models of the CME’s trajectory. A flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over Australia, New Zealand, SE Asia and Micronesia. Ham radio operators and mariners in the area may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare’s peak. Sunspot AR3575 has a ’beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic field that harbors energy for even stronger X-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of such an explosion on Feb. 6th. Thanks for watching! #Solarflare #CME #Solarstorm Images credit: NOAA/SWPC, AIA/SDO, SOHO/LASCO, nemesis maturity channel, Music credit: YouTube Audio Library