Solar storm to hit Earth's magnetic field on July 21

The sun at 13:32 on July 15, 2022, just as the filament that resulted in the solar flare begins to detach. (Helioviewer)

Something is happening to the sun. One of the regions of the solar atmosphere currently exhibiting sunspots caught the attention of observatories on July 11, when there was a sudden increase in ultraviolet and X-ray brightness. The next ones to notice were the amateur radio communities on either side of the Pacific Ocean, when their communications were briefly interrupted.

A solar flare — the emission of electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles located in a small region of the solar atmosphere — had just occurred. It is a region where the magnetic field is particularly strong and complex.