THE STRONGEST #X-FLARE YET: Giant sunspot AR3664 unleashed another X-flare today (May 11th @ 0139 UT)--its strongest yet. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a bright #ultravolet #flash from the category #X5.8 #explosion:
#Radiation from the flare caused a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean. Ham radio operators and mariners may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare's peak.
We don't yet know if this flare hurled a #CME into space. If it did, it could have a grazing Earth-directed component.
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