RADIO-ALTERING FLARE

On Sunday morning at 1145 UT, an active region on the sun's western limb unleashed a strong M3-class solar flare.



Although the blast site was not directly facing Earth, radiation from the explosion nevertheless ionized Earth's upper atmosphere. This altered the propagation of radio signals around Europe, where it was high-noon at the time of the flare. "I detected a sharp change in signal levels from two radio stations on the VLF band," reports Rob Stammes of Lofoten, Norway. More radio anmolaies were detected by Dave
Gradwell in Ireland (data) and a team led by Valter Giuliani in Italy (data). This shows that flares can affect our planet even when the underlying explosions are not "Earth-directed."