On January 3 and 4, the Sun experienced two powerful bursts of energy and radiation that reached Earth within minutes and caused radio communications blackouts in Africa, South America and Australia.. Scientists predict the appearance of a geomagnetic storm on Earth on January 5 and 6, writes Space.

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The most powerful solar flares are eruptions of energy and radiation that belong to class X. As shown by data from spacecraft that monitor the activity of the Sun, on Friday, January 3, an X1 class flare appeared on our star. 2, Saturday, January 4 - X1 class outbreak. The radiation released during flares reaches the Earth in about 10 minutes.. The first event caused a radio blackout in parts of Africa, South America and the South Atlantic Ocean. The second event caused radio communications to be lost in parts of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific..

Both X-class flares originated in a sunspot region called AR3947. These are darker areas on the Sun's surface with cooler plasma and a stronger magnetic field.. When magnetic field lines rearrange, a release of energy and radiation occurs. If the sunspot area is directed towards the Earth, then the radiation hits our planet and leads to negative consequences.

Communications are disconnected due to the fact that charged particles from the Sun penetrate the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and interact with gas molecules, which interferes with the normal passage of radio signals.

Solar flares are divided into 5 classes, and as the class increases, each flare becomes ten times stronger. Class X flashes are the most powerful, followed by class M flashes, class C flashes, and class B and A flashes close this list. Next to each letter is a number that indicates the strength of the individual flash..

Scientists believe both flares were accompanied by coronal mass ejections, or bursts of hot plasma from the Sun that could reach Earth.. If this happens, it is expected that a geomagnetic storm of level G1 or G2 may occur on Earth on January 5 and 6. These are moderate geomagnetic storms.

Now the Sun has entered a phase of activity called solar maximum.. It occurs approximately in the middle of the solar activity cycle, which lasts 11 years.. The current 25 cycle of solar activity began in 2019. Solar maximum is characterized by the appearance of a large number of sunspots and the appearance of the most powerful flares. X-class flares are expected to occur frequently on the Sun in 2025.

Focus has already written that a historical event occurred at the end of 2024. NASA spacecraft flew to the Sun at a record close distance at a record speed and was able to survive.

Focus also wrote that astronomers have discovered a unique black hole that is not similar to similar objects. Some supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies have a "