This ‘Large and Unstable’ Sunspot Just Slammed Earth With Its Strongest Flare Yet
An Earth-facing sunspot region has been raging with massive eruptions of hot gas that have caused disruptions to our communications systems—and there’s still more to come. On Tuesday at 5:49 p.m. ET, sunspot region 4114 released an X.12 class solar flare that caused a radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. This was the strongest flare released by this specific sunspot thus far.