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Space
Space
Science
Daisy Dobrijevic

Sun unleashes colossal X4.2 solar flare, knocking out radio signals across Africa and Europe (video)

Sun Africa Europe Earth Mark Johnston NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
Two panel image on the left is the giant sunspot close up and on the right the huge x flare that was released today.

The sun is certainly putting on quite the show this week. Earlier today (Feb. 4), it fired off another powerful solar flare, this time an X4.2, briefly disrupting radio communications across parts of western Africa and southern Europe as intense radiation flooded Earth's upper atmosphere.

The impulsive flare peaked at 7:13 a.m. EST (1213 GMT). It erupted from volatile sunspot group AR4366, a rapidly growing, magnetically complex region that has been unleashing a near-continuous barrage of potent solar flares since roaring into existence just days ago.

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