NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed two X-class solar flares on Tuesday. A Coronal mass ejection (CME) was associated with the solar flares, but large-scale geomagnetic activity is not expected.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However, when intense enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.
This flare is classified as an X2.2 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
Agencies/Canadajournal