--- title: "The Sun Just Blasted the Earth With an Enormous Solar Flare" description: "During the days leading up to Halloween, the Sun's surface was roiling with activity, blasting powerful bursts of radiation towards the Earth." date: "2021-11-01" modified: "2021-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sun-blasted-earth-solar-flare" categories: - "Energy" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" - "Solar Power" tags: - "NASA" - "solar flare" - "solar storms" - "the digest" --- # The Sun Just Blasted the Earth With an Enormous Solar Flare ![During the days leading up to Halloween, the Sun's surface was roiling with activity, blasting powerful bursts of radiation towards the Earth.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Solar Blast During the days leading up to Halloween, the Sun's surface was roiling with activity, blasting powerful bursts of radiation towards the Earth, [according to NASA](). While our planet's surface is protected from the cosmic drama by its atmosphere, the flare ups can wreak havoc on GPS and communications satellites. One solar flare was so powerful that it was classified as an X1-class flare upon detection on October 28, NASA said, which is one of the most intense of its kind. A video released by NASA shows the spectacle in motion — and emphasizes, once again, the flabbergasting power of our star. https://youtu.be/TpfkBkgs9JA ## Flare Gun The solar storm also triggered [dazzling displays]() of auroras, commonly known as the northern lights, in the night skies over stretches of North America. Since December 2019, the Sun's activity has been gaining steam, a part of its natural solar cycle. Each cycle lasts about 11 years, rising from calm to stormy and back again. Solar activity can heat up so much, in fact, that the Sun's magnetic poles end up flipping, blasting off massive amounts of solar material in the process. The strongest X-class solar flare ever recorded was an X28-class flare, meaning that it was 28 times more powerful than the October 28 flare, [according to NASA](). It may have been even more powerful than that, as the sensors cut out at that level. These events are the biggest explosions in the solar system and can release as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs, according to NASA. So even though the Sun enables life on Earth, don't ever forget its potential for terrible destruction as well. **READ MORE:** [Active Sun Unleashes Powerful X-Class Solar Flare]() \[NASA\] **More on solar flares:** *[The Sharpest-Ever Image of a Sunspot Looks Like a Portal to Hell]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()