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The Sun has broken a new record for continuous radio wave transmissions, blasting a powerful signal four times longer than any other similar phenomenon ever recorded.
Data from the cosmic outburst, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, details the record-breaking event, which lasted from August 21st to September 9th of 2025 — setting a record of 19 full days.
To be fair to the Sun, it’s entirely possible — very likely, really — that this has happened before. What makes the event stand out is the fact that we’ve been able to observe it for the first time in human history, using craft from four various NASA missions to record radio waves produced by electrons trapped within the star’s magnetic field.
According to IFL Science, the rare Sun communique was first spotted by the Solar Orbiter, a Sun-observing satellite launched by the European Space Agency and NASA in 2020. Normally, that would’ve been the end of it, as the longest previously recorded Sun-burst lasted just five days.
However, 12 days after the Solar Orbiter made its recordings, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe observed the same radio burst, along with the agency’s Wind spacecraft, which is designed to observe solar winds in transit to Earth. They were soon followed by NASA’s STEREO-A craft, which was used to track the source of the radio blast to a funnel-type structure in the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere.
Fortunately, this type of radio blast is harmless, unlike some other types of solar events which can knock out satellites or have devastating health effects on astronauts.
Still, the data collected during the event represents a veritable treasure trove for scientists, whose work on space weather could be crucial for predicting the kinds of Sun events that may actually pose a threat.
More on space: Scientists Detect Weird Anomalies in Clouds of Venus