STRONG EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE: If you round up, it was an X-flare. On April 21st at 0157 UT, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a strong M9.6-class solar flare. The source was sunspot complex AR2993-94, which is almost directly facing Earth.
Radiation from the flare caused a shortwave radio blackout over southeast Asia and Australia: blackout map. Remarkably, this is the second day in a row the same region of Earth has experienced a radio blackout. It happened yesterday, too, in response to an even stronger X2.2 flare.
Shortly after the flare, the US Air Force reported a Type II solar radio burst–a natural form of radio noise produced by shock waves in the leading edge of a CME. This means we can expect a CME to emerge from the blast site. Stay tuned for updates. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text
