Huge Solar Flare Sparks Widespread Blackouts, May Deter Korean Missile Launch This Weekend

The sun just released a massive solar flare.

In fact, as SHTFplan.com"s Mac Slavo details, this is the largest solar flare emitted in the past decade, and the earth has already been affected by blackouts.

NASA has reported a huge solar flare was emitted by the Sun and it is the most powerful one since 2006.  

This solar flare has already caused some radio blackouts on Earth and it may cause aurora visible as far south as London.  On the morning of September 6, scientists watched as two X-flares were unleashed by the sun.

The stronger flare was the second of the two emitted by the Sun yesterday morning and it was seen by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). At 5:10 AM EDT, the Sun unleashed an X2.2 flare, with X-class denoting the most intense flares. Then, at 8:02 AM EDT, a much bigger flare measuring X9.3 was unleashed. By comparison, the last time we saw a flare this big was in 2006, which measured at X9.0. The number shows the intensity, with X2 being twice as intense as X1, X3 three times as intense, and so on.

The loops of plasma emitted during these two flares were ten times the size of planet Earth. Scientists got to watch the massive coronal mass ejection from these flares, which can be seen below in the gif provided.

According to NASA, the flares were emitted from an active region of the Sun known as AR 2673. This region also emitted a mid-level flare on September 4, 2017. But scientists say the timing of these big flares is rather odd as the Sun is currently heading towards the quieter period of its 11-year solar cycle known as solar minimum. This cycle began in 2008, with solar minimum expected in the next couple of years.

“This is a phase when such eruptions on the Sun are increasingly rare, but history has shown that they can nonetheless be intense,” said NASA.

And this one had some effects on life on Earth.  It knocked out the high-frequency radio, according to the NOAA, and degraded low-frequency navigation. But the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said it was expecting some radio blackouts yesterday, and the high-frequency radio was expected to drop out for an hour.

The particles from the CME (coronal mass ejection) can also cause aurora activity further south than normal as they interact with Earth’s magnetosphere.

*The map above shows how far south the aurora will be visible thanks to these solar flares.  If interested, watch the skies for the show.

Scientists aren’t sure yet if the CME was directed towards Earth. If it does come our way, it could cause a strong geomagnetic storm that will further hamper communications.

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But there is a silver-lining to this massive solar flare.

As Bloomberg points out, North Korea could decide to delay its next ballistic missile launch because the current outbreak of severe geomagnetic storms can pose a risk to electronic equipment.

As we detailed previously, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Thursday the next launch could come on Saturday, the anniversary of North Korea’s founding.

But, while missiles are generally heavily shielded against radiation, Kim Jong Un may decide not to risk firing one during the solar flares in case they lose data or ancillary equipment, said Lance Gatling, an aerospace consultant with Nexial Research in Tokyo.

He added that the U.S. and Japan might be hoping for a launch so they can test detection and tracking equipment in a storm environment.

But while that temporary cessation of North Korea"s nuclear development is positive, StockBoardAsset notes that the solar flare shows that our modern economies and societies are fragile.

There is a reason why our Government and NASA are preparing as highlighted in the recent Exec Order.

This week"s X-9 solar flare - the largest in a decade should serve as a reminder how close we really are to the edge. At the same time, a Hurricane in the Atlantic called Irma strengthens to a CAT-5 with winds near 185mph spiraling towards Florida. Perhaps, the sun and earth are more interconnected than we think as junk science called global warming distracts the true understanding of how nature works.

US Government Prepares For 'Space Weather Event' As NASA Warns "Solar Minimum Is Coming"

Via StockBoardAsset.com,

A new report and video out from NASA about the upcoming ‘solar minimum’ has been published. The report titled ‘Solar Minimum is Coming’ outlines every 11-years, the sun oscillates from a solar minimum to a maximum. Today, the sun is called “solar minimum,” says Dean Pesnell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. “And it’s a regular part of the sunspot cycle”. The sun is heading towards a solar minimum where the sunspot count will be relatively low.

The report goes on to say, “while intense activity such as sunspots and solar flares subside during solar minimum, that doesn’t mean the sun becomes dull. Solar activity simply changes form”. During a solar minimum, we can expect more space weather events called coronal holes.

According to the report, coronal holes are vast regions of the sun’s atmosphere where the sun’s magnetic field opens up and allows streams of solar particles to escape the sun as fast solar wind.

Pesnell says “We see these holes throughout the solar cycle, but during solar minimums, they can last for a long time – six months or more”. Solar particles from coronal holes are then ejected towards earth’s magnetic field causing space weather events.

Space weather refers to the environmental conditions in Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere due to the Sun and the solar wind that can influence the functioning and reliability of spaceborne and ground-based systems and services or endanger property or human health.

Meanwhile, The White House in October 2016 quietly passed through an Executive Order— “Coordinating Efforts to Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events”. 

Here is snippet of section 1 of the executive order:   

Space weather events, in the form of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances, occur regularly, some with measurable effects on critical infrastructure systems and technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite operations and communication, aviation, and the electrical power grid. Extreme space weather events — those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure — could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation. Space weather has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents. Successfully preparing for space weather events is an all-of-nation endeavor that requires partnerships across governments, emergency managers, academia, the media, the insurance industry, non-profits, and the private sector.

Back in April 2017, we wrote an article titled ‘Yesterday’s Broad Power Outage Likely Caused By Geomagnetic Storm‘. While everyone thought terrorism was to blame, we correctly pointed out that large power failures in major US cities was due to an intense geomagnetic storm registering 8-10 on K-Planetary Index.

Conclusion: Our fragile nation is not adequately prepared for space weather events as highlighted in the recent Exec Order.

Frankly, this should of been done years ago, but it appears that our nation will soon deal with the consequences such as April 2017 power failures in major US-cities. Couple the solar minimum period with The Fourth Turning in the west, and we’re staring at the perfect cocktail for self-destruction of an empire. Perhaps, the downfall of America is not some external threat that the mainstream media makes you believe, but in actuality, it’s an implosion from with-in. It’s happened to the greatest empires that have attempted to rule our planet, why not now? 

Don’t believe me? Here are various minimums verse the rise and fall of Chinese Dynasties

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Addendum: one reader noted the deja vu divergence once again between declining sunspot activity and surging stock prices... did not end well last time...