The sun fired off its strongest solar flare of the year this week causing a wide-area blackout of high frequency signal.

The powerful flare peaked at 10:12pm GMT on Tuesday and was classified an X3.3, falling into the category of the most intense solar explosions.

X-class solar flares, when aimed directly at Earth, can pose a threat to satellites and astronauts in orbit.

Despite disruption to shortwave radio communication, this particular flare is not a major concern for Earth, space officials have said.

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