Solar storm: Powerful flare causes radio blackout over Indian Ocean, alert issued till This date

A mid-level solar flare classified as M5.5 class was emitted by the Sun on January 20, 2022, as per NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

The observatory tasked with watching the Sun constantly also captured the event, which it tweeted on January 21. It is seen as a bright flash on the right side of the Sun.

Solar flares, which are powerful bursts of energy from the Sun, can affect radio communications, electric power grids and navigation signals. They also pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

The flare impacted the atmosphere of the Earth, inducing a shortwave radio blackout over the Indian Ocean, reported a leading daily. This may have led to radio communication disruptions from air and sea transport for some time. Subsequently, the Earth may be hit by minor geomagnetic storms in the coming days.

As per Spaceweather.com, images of the sun showed that a coronal mass ejection (CME) also took place. The resultant storm cloud is not directly expected to hit Earth but would pass nearby on January 23 and 24. This may cause some geomagnetic unrest.

As per NASA’s Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC), there’s a 1% chance of R1-R2 (Minor) Radio Blackout on January 23, 24 and 25. It also predicts a 1% chance of S1 or greater solar radiation storm on the three days.

As per the SWPC, R1 blackouts can cause “weak or minor degradation of HF radio communication on sunlit side, occasional loss of radio contact,” and can degrade “low-frequency navigation signals” for “brief intervals.

R2 blackouts can cause “limited blackout of HF radio communication on sunlit side, loss of radio contact for tens of minutes,” and “degradation of low-frequency navigation signals for tens of minutes.”