Zonnevlammen, Zonnestormen en CME #5:

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Two X-class solar flares erupted over the past 9 hours
; the first was X1.8 at 23:07 UTC on February 21 and the second X1.7 at 06:32 UTC on February 22, 2024. Both erupted from Active Region 3590.

There were no apparent coronal mass ejections (CMEs) produced during these events.

The possibility of Earth-directed CMEs will change in the days ahead as AR 3590 moves into a geoeffective position. Additionally, the region has a beta-gamma-delta magnetic configuration and is capable of producing more major eruptions on the Sun.

Radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over east Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Ocean at the time of the X1.8 flare and over east Africa, parts of the Middle East, India, China, Indonesia, and central and west Australia at the time of the X1.7 flare.

There is only one other active region on the Sun (AR 3586) but it has been stable and inactive for several days.

Additionally, an eruptive filament was observed starting around 15:00 UTC on February 21 in the NW quadrant, and an eruptive prominence at 16:00 UTC on the SE limb.

Material associated with the limb event is not expected to be directed toward Earth, SWPC said at 00:30 UTC today, adding that analysis of the filament eruption will be completed once coronagraph from SOHO imagery becomes available.

Former AR 3575, which has a history of producing X-class flares, is expected to return to the visible disk today, increasing chances for moderate solar activity and M-class flares as it comes into view over the next day or two.

AR 3590 also has the continued potential to produce M- and X-class flares as it rotates toward the center of the disk.

The solar wind environment is expected to be at nominal levels through February 24. During the same period, geomagnetic field conditions are expected to be at mostly quiet levels.

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3rd X-class solar flare in 24 hours is the most powerful for 6 years — and it may not be the last

A hyperactive sunspot recently unleashed its third X-class flare in under 24 hours. The X6 flare is the most powerful since 2017 and could be followed by equally massive explosions.

The gigantic solar flare erupted from a hyperactive sunspot in the sun's northern hemisphere on Feb. 22. (Image credit: NASA/SDO)
They say all good things come in threes, but what about supercharged solar flares?

A massive, hyperactive sunspot has just unleashed its third X-class solar flare — the most powerful type of solar explosion — in less than 24 hours. The latest flare, which is the largest of the current solar cycle, is the sun's most intense outburst since 2017. And an even more powerful explosion could be on the way.

This flurry of sun-shaking eruptions is a stark reminder that we are on the verge of entering the explosive peak of the solar cycle — the solar maximum — and are likely to see even more intense and potentially destructive solar storms over the next few years.

On Feb. 21, sunspot AR3590 — a massive dark patch several times wider than Earth — spat out two X-class flares in the space of seven hours, Live Science's sister site Space.com reported. These explosions had magnitudes of X1.8 and X1.7 respectively.

But on Feb. 22, the same sunspot unleashed an X6.3 flare around 23 hours after the first, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was around five times more powerful than the previous two flares, according to NASA.

Not only is this the most powerful explosion of the current solar cycle, which began in 2019, but it is also the most powerful since Sept. 10, 2017, when an X11.8 magnitude flare rocked the sun.

None of the flares launched coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — clouds of magnetized plasma that can slam into Earth's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, and trigger disturbances known as geomagnetic storms that can lead to vibrant aurora displays.

However, all three spat waves of radiation toward us, causing temporary radio blackouts as they slammed into our planet's protective shield. There were rumors that the first two flares were also responsible for causing cell coverage outages from providers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. But this was likely not the case.

But we are not yet in the clear. AR3590 has a particularly unstable magnetic field that "harbors energy for more X-class explosions," Spaceweather.com reported. The sunspot only recently emerged on the sun's near-side to Earth and will be pointing at us for the next week, so if it does have any more violent outbursts it could hurl a substantial CME right at us.

If this were to happen, it could not only trigger auroras but also disrupt communications, interfere with infrastructure on the planet's surface and knock satellites out of the sky.

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Major network outages in US following two X-class solar flares
A widespread network outage was reported in the United States on Thursday morning, February 22, 2024, following two major eruptions on the Sun, an X1.8 flare at 23:07 UTC on February 21 and X1.7 at 06:32 UTC on February 22. Both erupted from Active Region 3590.

The main question everyone in the space weather community was confronted with today is whether these flares could have affected the telecommunication networks in the United States, causing major outages.

These outages primarily affected cellular service, particularly for users of AT&T, with tens of thousands of their users reporting issues according to Downdetector.com. Other carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, UScellular, and Cricket Wireless were also affected to a lesser extent.

The outages also affected companies like Starlink, Consumer Cellular, Boost Mobile, Google, US Cellular, Spectrum, Xfinity, OpenAI, Facebook, Microsoft and many others.

The impact was felt in major cities across the US, including San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, causing disruptions to communication, internet access, and even emergency services in some areas. Most carriers reported full or partial restoration of service later in the day.

While there were reports of isolated incidents in other parts of the world around the same time, these seem to be unrelated to the US outage and were likely caused by localized issues with specific providers or infrastructure.

According to NOAA SWPC, solar flares can affect communication systems, radar, and the Global Positioning System, based on the intensity of the eruption and associated phenomena, but it is highly unlikely that these flares contributed to the widely reported cellular network outages.

Many solar astrophysicists agree. “Some people are attributing cell network outages (AT&T, Verizon) in the U.S to last night’s X-class solar flare. However, flares only cause radio degradation on the dayside of the Earth. As you can see below, the U.S was not affected by the event. So it’s just a coincidence,” said solar astrophysicist Dr. Ryan French.

While it’s true that radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over the Indian Ocean at the time of the X1.7 flare, the largest effects of the X1.8 event on February 21 (some 7 hours before the X1.7) were much closer to the United States, but still mostly over the Pacific Ocean.

Ben Davidson of the Suspicious Observers YouTube channel added an interesting connection, saying: “These networks are not connected to one another in such a way that we can easily blame something else [other than solar flares], including hacking. This broader scope makes NOAA’s claim of unlikely more and more unlikely to be accurate.”

“If it was hacking, it was a hacking effort on a scale never before seen on Earth and they timed it right when the solar blasts occurred. There can be no certainty either way at this moment but I do have to say that best and most reasonable explanation at this time is that the ionospheric and global electric circuit impact from the back to back X-class triggered these disruptions of the communication and infrastructure networks.”