MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Today, Earth-orbiting satellites detected the biggest solar flare in more than 3 years. The M4.4-category eruption produced a shortwave radio blackout over some parts of Earth and a bright coronal mass ejection (CME). Remarkably, the flare was even bigger than it seemed. The blast site is located just behind the sun's southeastern limb, so the explosion was partially eclipsed by the body of the sun. Visit Spaceweather.com for the full story.
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Above: This "D Region Absorption" map from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center shows where shortwave radio propagation was affected by today's solar flare.
