Since it launched on February 11, 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory- SDO- continually observes the Sun. It studies how solar activity is generated and impacts space weather. Recently, it captured an image of a strong solar flare emanating from the Sun.
The Sun erupted a strong solar flare- classified as an X-class flare- on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, peaking at 9:55 a.m. EDT. The source region for the flare was NOAA/SWPC Region 3006 – a moderately complex spot group in the southern solar hemisphere.
The flare was rather impulsive, so any high frequency (HF) communication impacts were likely short-lived and restricted to the sunlit side of Earth at the time of the flare – which was much of the Atlantic Ocean, portions of eastern North and South America, and western Africa and Europe.
