The sun has unleashed the strongest solar flares of 2025, causing radio blackouts around the world and potentially impacting Earth in the coming days. The solar flares were triggered by intense magnetic activity on the sun’s surface, releasing massive amounts of stored energy as electromagnetic radiation.
On Tuesday, a sunspot named AR4086 exploded, releasing an X1.2-class solar flare, while another sunspot named AR4087 spat out an M5.3 flare and an even more powerful X2.7 flare later that day. These flares triggered radio blackouts in North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
The radiation from these solar flares increased ionization in Earth’s atmosphere, absorbing radio signals instead of reflecting them. This can cause disruptions to long-distance communication and navigation systems.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun’s surface also traveled at a speed of up to 3000 km/s, potentially impacting Mars and triggering auroras across its atmosphere. However, due to the position of sunspot AR4087, this CME is currently aimed at Mars.
NASA models predict that the CME will hit Mars on Sunday (May 18). As sunspot AR4087 slowly moves across the sun’s surface, it puts Earth directly in its line of fire, potentially causing more radio blackouts and geomagnetic storms. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has predicted a high chance of M-class solar flares heading towards Earth over the next few days.
The center has forecasted a 65% chance of at least M-class flare activity through May 17, with a 30% chance for X-Class levels during the same time.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/the-sun-just-spit-out-the-strongest-solar-flares-of-2025-and-more-could-be-headed-toward-earth