The sun has unleashed its most powerful solar flare in 7 years, following another supercharged explosion earlier in the week. Both outbursts have launched coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at Earth, which could trigger vibrant aurora displays across large parts of our planet this weekend.

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are normal behavior for the Sun, particularly when it's in the peak of its activity cycle, as scientists believe is the case right now. They often occur in association with each other, erupting from sunspots on the surface of the Sun.

On Oct. 3, the sun released the most powerful solar flare this solar cycle, a colossal X9.05 eruption — and it's heading for Earth.

Blackout A huge solar flare caused a radio blackout on Earth yesterday, according to Spaceweather.com. The event, caused by an exploding sunspot, clocked in as a powerful X-level solar flare and was deemed by experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation (NOAA) to be the second-strongest of the year so far.

An explosion happened on the sun Oct. 3, 2024, producing the most powerful solar flare since 2017 and kicking off a series of solar storms headed for Earth.

The Sun just unleashed the most powerful flare we've seen in seven years. On October 3, a flare measured at a strength of X9.0 exploded right in the middle of the solar disk. Even more excitingly, it was accompanied by what is known as a halo coronal mass ejection – one that is ejected straight at Earth.