The strongest solar flare in four years erupted from the Sun’s surface on Saturday morning and entered our planet’s atmosphere eight minutes later.

August 26, 2021

An explosion from a new and unnamed sunspot created the X-Class flame, the first of the 25 solar cycles. An X-ray explosion travels to Earth at the speed of light and collides with the upper part of our atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout in the Atlantic Ocean and coastal areas. The blackout map above…