The sun has just bombarded Earth with the most powerful geomagnetic storm our planet has seen in more than six years. The massive storm occurred after an eruption from an extremely rare"double" X-class flare disturbed Earth's magnetic field, lighting up the skies across the globe with vibrant auroras and other luminous phenomena.
On Saturday , the sun unleashed a 1.1 magnitude X-class solar flare — the most powerful type of explosion the sun can produce. This blast was unusual because it was made up of two simultaneous explosions, known as a sympathetic solar flare, ejected by a pair of sunspots separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, Spaceweather.com reported.
The unusual nature of this solar explosion and intensity of the resulting geomagnetic storm are both clear indicators that the sun is nearing solar maximum. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Some experts believe that the sun may have already entered this explosive phase, around a year earlier than initial forecasts predicted. But scientists won't know exactly when this period started until months after the sun eventually begins to calm down.