Sun Releases Most Powerful Flare Of The Year, Causes Radio Blackout

Illustration of a solar flare erupting (photo: NOAA doc.)

JAKARTA – The sun reportedly erupted on Tuesday, November 11, releasing a massive solar flare of magnitude X5.1. The eruption peaked at around 5:00 PM WIB (Western Indonesian Time).

This is the strongest eruption to occur in 2025. The flare originated from an active sunspot known as AR4274. This sunspot has shown increased activity in recent days.

This X5.1 eruption is the latest in a series of intense flares from AR4274. The region previously produced a solar flare of magnitude X1.7 on November 9 and an X1.2 on November 10. Both were lower than the latest eruption.

It's important to note that solar flares are classified into five classes: A, B, C, M, and X. Each level represents a tenfold increase in energy output. Class X is the most powerful, and the number after the X indicates its intensity.

This most powerful eruption has had a significant impact, even devastating communities in Africa and Europe. According to a report from Space, this solar flare triggered a strong radio blackout, reaching the R3 level.

Specifically, this disruption disrupted high-frequency radio communications on the side of Earth that was being illuminated by the sun at the time of the eruption. This was caused by the X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted towards Earth.

Today's eruption was accompanied by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that was moving rapidly towards Earth. NOAA estimates that this CME could merge with the previous ejection and impact Earth around noon on November 12th.

The combined impact of these CMEs is expected to trigger severe geomagnetic storm conditions, categorized as G4. These conditions have the potential to cause widespread and powerful auroras.