An unusual solar flare observed by a NASA space observatory on Tuesday could cause some disruptions to satellites, communications and power on Earth over the next day or so, officials said.
An eruption of similar magnitude on the sun has not been witnessed since 2006, according to the National Weather Service.
"The sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare with a substantial coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7 that is visually spectacular," NASA's solar dynamics observatory said.
"The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface."
The flare peaked at a 1: 41 a.m. in the United States.
However, since the eruption was not pointed directly at Earth, the effects were expected to remain "fairly small," NASA said.
The National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center described it as a "dramatic eruption" that is "expected to cause G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) levels of geomagnetic storm activity.
An eruption of similar magnitude on the sun has not been witnessed since 2006, according to the National Weather Service.
"The sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare with a substantial coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7 that is visually spectacular," NASA's solar dynamics observatory said.
"The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface."
The flare peaked at a 1: 41 a.m. in the United States.
However, since the eruption was not pointed directly at Earth, the effects were expected to remain "fairly small," NASA said.
The National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center described it as a "dramatic eruption" that is "expected to cause G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) levels of geomagnetic storm activity.
