Another M-class Flare from Sunspot 1515Space Thursday, July 5th,
2012 (Eurekalert) Active Region 1515 has now spit out 12 M-class
flares since July 3. Early in the morning of July 5, 2012 there
was an M6.1 flare. It peaked at 7:44 AM EDT. This caused a
moderate – classified as R2 on the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s space weather scale – radio
blackout that has since subsided. Radio blackouts occur when the
X-rays or extreme UV light from a flare disturb the layer of
Earth’s atmosphere known as the ionosphere, through which radio
waves travel. The constant changes in the ionosphere change the
paths of the radio waves as they move, thus degrading the
information they carry. This affects both high and low frequency
radio waves alike. Radio blackouts are rated on a scale from R1
(minor) to R5 (extreme). An R2 radio blackout can result in
limited degradation of both high- and low-frequency radio
communication and GPS signals. The same region has also produced
numerous coronal mass ejections or