NASA issues warning on extreme solar weather with blackout potential
Photo: Sunspot activity grows as Nasa warns of possible blackouts and radio loss
Listen to article
Solar storms and intense space weather are expected in the coming days and weeks as a highly active region of the Sun becomes visible. This activity casue auroras and potential blackout on earth, astronomers warn.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recently recorded the most powerful eruption of the year – an X2.7-class solar flare – from a newly formed sunspot cluster, now designated AR4087.
The flare, which occurred earlier this week, triggered temporary radio blackouts across the Middle East.
High-frequency signals were interrupted for roughly 10 minutes, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
'This is getting intense,' wrote space photographer Vincent Ledvina in a social media post. 'Especially as this active region turns closer into view.'
Photo: Twitter
WOW, happening now: an X2.7 flare from AR 4087 rotating in. This is getting intense, especially as this active region turns closer into view. This same AR just produced an M5.3 flare a few hours ago.
What does this AR have planned over the next days… we'll have to wait and see. pic.twitter.com/GAgJWi3bJV — Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) May 14, 2025
Experts warn that continued activity from this area could cause further disturbances to satellite communications, navigation systems, and even electrical grids.
There is also increased risk to spacecraft and astronauts due to heightened radiation exposure.
The Sun is currently nearing the peak of its 11-year solar cycle – a phase known as the solar maximum – when magnetic turbulence is at its most extreme.
This upheaval leads to frequent flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can result in dazzling aurora displays when charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field.
With several sunspot regions now facing Earth and a magnetically active area emerging over the Sun's southeastern horizon, forecasters predict more intense solar weather events in the near future.
'There are currently up to five sunspot regions on the facing side of the Sun,' the UK Met Office stated in its latest space weather forecast.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Trump withdraws Musk ally Jared Isaacman nomination for NASA chief
The White House on Saturday withdrew Jared Isaacman's nomination to head NASA, unexpectedly removing the Elon Musk ally from consideration for the top post at the US space agency. President Donald Trump said he would announce a new candidate soon. "After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. "I will soon announce a new nominee who will be mission aligned, and put America First in space." Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who had been Musk's pick to lead NASA, was due next week for a much-delayed confirmation vote before the US Senate. His removal from consideration caught many in the space industry by surprise. Trump and the White House did not explain what led to the decision. "It may not always be obvious through the discourse and turbulence, but there are many competent, dedicated people who love this country and care deeply about the mission," Isaacman said in a post on X. "That was on full display during my hearing, where leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they're willing to fight for the world's most accomplished space agency. "I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me." His removal comes days after Musk's official departure from the White House, where the SpaceX CEO's role as a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency created turbulence for the administration and frustrated some of Trump's aides. Semafor reported the news earlier. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a person familiar with his reaction, Musk was disappointed by Isaacman's removal. "It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," Musk wrote of Isaacman on X, responding to the news. "That was on full display during my hearing, where leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they're willing to fight for the world's most accomplished space agency. "I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me." His removal comes days after Musk's official departure from the White House, where the SpaceX CEO's role as a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency created turbulence for the administration and frustrated some of Trump's aides. Semafor reported the news earlier. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a person familiar with his reaction, Musk was disappointed by Isaacman's removal. "It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," Musk wrote of Isaacman on X, responding to the news. "That was on full display during my hearing, where leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they're willing to fight for the world's most accomplished space agency. "I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me." His removal comes days after Musk's official departure from the White House, where the SpaceX CEO's role as a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency created turbulence for the administration and frustrated some of Trump's aides. Semafor reported the news earlier. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a person familiar with his reaction, Musk was disappointed by Isaacman's removal. "It is rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted," Musk wrote of Isaacman on X, responding to the news.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Trump says withdrawing Musk ally as nominee to head NASA
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was withdrawing his nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, a close ally of Elon Musk, to lead space agency NASA. Trump said last December, before returning to office, that he wanted the online payments entrepreneur and the first private astronaut to conduct a spacewalk to serve as the next head of NASA. But on Saturday, he said on his Truth Social platform that 'after a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA.' 'I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.' Earlier Saturday, the New York Times had reported the move was coming, quoting unnamed sources as saying the decision had come after the president learned Isaacman had donated money to prominent Democrats. Asked about that report, the White House had told AFP in an email that it was 'essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda.' 'The Administrator of NASA will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump's bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars,' it said. The nomination shakeup appears to be a snub of billionaire Musk, who on Friday stepped back from his role leading Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk reportedly lobbied directly with the president for Isaacman, who has had significant business dealings with Musk's SpaceX, to get the top NASA job, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. As the news surfaced, Musk stressed on X that 'it is rare to find someone so competent and good-arted'. Trump says Pakistani representatives coming to US next week for trade talks The 42-year-old founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments has emerged as a leading figure in commercial spaceflight through his high-profile collaborations with SpaceX. He made history last September by stepping out of a Crew Dragon to gaze at Earth from the void of space while gripping the spacecraft's exterior, during the first-ever spacewalk carried out by non-professional astronauts.
Business Recorder
26-05-2025
- Business Recorder
Astronomers spot galaxy shaped like the Milky Way but is far more massive
WASHINGTON: Astronomers have observed a galaxy dating to an earlier epoch in the universe's history that surprisingly is shaped much like our Milky Way - a spiral structure with a straight bar of stars and gas running through its center - but far more massive, offering new insight into galactic formation. The distant galaxy, called J0107a, was observed as it appeared 11.1 billion years ago, when the universe was about a fifth of its current age. The researchers used data from the Chile-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to study the galaxy. They determined that the galaxy's mass, including its stars and gas, was more than 10 times greater than that of the Milky Way, and it was forming stars at an annual rate approximately 300 times greater. J0107a was more compact than the Milky Way, however. 'The galaxy is a monster galaxy with a high star formation rate and plenty of gas, much more than present-day galaxies,' said astronomer Shuo Huang of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature. 'This discovery,' said study co-author Toshiki Saito, an astronomer at Shizuoka University in Japan, 'raises the important question: How did such a massive galaxy form in such an early universe?' While a few galaxies that are undergoing star formation at a similar rate to J0107a exist in today's universe, almost all of them are ones that are in the process of a galactic merger or collision. There was no sign of such circumstances involving this galaxy. J0107a and the Milky Way have some commonalities. 'They are similarly huge and possess a similar barred structure. However, the Milky Way had plenty of time to form its huge structures, while J0107a didn't,' Saito said. In the first few billion years after the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago that initiated the universe, galaxies were turbulent entities and were much richer in gas than those existing currently - factors that fostered extreme bursts of star formation. While galaxies with highly organized structures like the barred spiral shape of the Milky Way are common now, that was not the case 11.1 billion years ago. 'Compared to other monster galaxies in the distant universe (dating to an earlier cosmic epoch) whose shapes are usually disturbed or irregular, it is unexpected that J0107a looks very similar to present-day spiral galaxies,' Huang said. 'Theories about the formation of present-day galactic structures may need to be revised,' Huang added. The Webb telescope, as it peers across vast distances back to the early universe, has found that galaxies with a spiral shape appeared much earlier than previously known. J0107a is now one of the earliest-known examples of a barred spiral galaxy. About two thirds of spiral galaxies observed in the universe today possess a bar structure. The bar is thought to serve as a form of stellar nursery, bringing gas inward from the galaxy's spiral arms. Some of the gas forms what are called molecular clouds. Gravity causes the contraction of these clouds, with small centers taking shape that heat up and become new stars. The bar that is part of J0107a measures about 50,000 light years in length, Huang said. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). The Webb telescope 'has been studying the morphology of early massive galaxies intensely recently. However, their dynamics are still poorly understood,' Saito said.
