X-Class Solar Flare & Coronal Mass Ejection Alert | NASA SDO

X-Class Solar Flare & Coronal Mass Ejection Alert | NASA SDO

Significant X-class solar flare: sunspot 4341 erupted on Jan. 18th (1809 UTC), 2026, producing an X1.9-class solar flare. The explosion lasted for hours. This makes this flare even more powerful than than its "X1.9" rating would suggest. Radiation from the flare ionized Earth's atmosphere over the Americas, especially South America. This caused a shortwave radio blackout that may have lasted more than an hour at frequencies below 10 MHz.

Of greater interest is the coronal mass ejection (CME). The explosion launched a full halo CME with a significant Earth-directed component. NASA models predict that it will reach Earth during the early hours of January 20. The impact could cause a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm with mid-latitude auroras.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.9 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov/, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts. 

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO
Text Credit: Spaceweather[dot]com
Capture Date: Jan. 18, 2026

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