Astronomy

This is the best summary I could come up with:

On March 28, Earth was hit by an X-class solar flare that was strong enough to ionize part of the planet's atmosphere.

Scientists spotted the solar flare erupting from the bottom of the sun on Thursday (March 28), using satellites from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to the organization's Space Weather Prediction Center.

The explosion was so powerful that it ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a "deep shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean," SpaceWeather.com reported.

NOAA scientists were initially concerned that the CME would collide with Earth, potentially resulting in a geomagnetic storm that could impact satellites, radio communications and other infrastructure.

This solar event comes on the heels of a "double" X-class flare that occurred Monday (March 25), triggering the most powerful geomagnetic storm on our planet in six years.

So far in 2024, seven X-class flares, including the latest one, have burst from the sun, which is already half the number that reached Earth in 2023, Live Science previously reported.

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