The most powerful 'cosmic flare' is shooting straight at Earth

After the X-type cosmic flare could be a space bomb - a coronation mass ejection (CME) - that ignited the Earth. The culprit continues to be our ferocious mother star.

Cosmic flares "ignited" by the Sun

According to Space, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has just recorded the most powerful cosmic flare - type X - that just shot out of the mixed sunspot AR3006 at 8:55 p.m. 5 in Vietnam time.

The direction of this powerful flare is aimed directly at Earth, which will soon slam into the atmosphere. The US Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just issued a warning about the risk of shortwave radio power outages in the Atlantic region.

Flares from the Sun are powerful blasts of energy from the Sun, carrying many charged particles. These cosmic flares are responsible for geomagnetic storms (or solar storms) as they approach and affect Earth. Geomagnetic storms lead to the risk of loss of radio waves, disturbances to the navigation system, electricity, telecommunications . making aircraft, satellites and even migratory birds at risk of "lost".

More ominously, this powerful flare is often accompanied by a coronation mass ejection (CME), with even more terrifying energy. The aurora will happen when the CME accidentally intersects with the Earth's magnetic field lines, and we should hope it's just a harmless light show.

According to NOAA, the possibility of CME will appear at about 11 pm on May 10, Vietnam time and they are still observing the possibility of the aurora when this space bomb reaches Earth.

The Sun is in the active phase of the 11-year cycle, so it has continuously fired cosmic flares and CMEs at Earth and other planets in the Solar System.