Anyone know of any huge sun activity that can explain massive Internet outages across Australia?

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Permalink Reply by Feather Winger on January 14, 2015 at 1:57pm

SOLAR FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT: Sunspot AR2257 erupted on Jan. 13th, producing an M5-class solar flare at 04:24 UT. A pulse of extreme UV radiation from he flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere over Australia and the Indian Ocean. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed a brief communications blackout at frequencies below about 10 MHz. This map from NOAA shows the affected region:

We do not yet know if the flare also produced a coronal mass ejection (CME). If so, the plasma cloud will probably miss Earth because of the sunspot's off-center location on the solar disk.

More flares could be in the offing. AR2257 has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that seems poised to explode again. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-class flares and a 10% chance of X-flares on Jan. 13th. Solar flare alerts:

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Permalink Reply by Ivor Carter on January 14, 2015 at 8:35pm

Thanks Feather!  I can access some sites in Australia but have trouble with sites outside.  A lot of not so happy customers in Australia at present, and the net still runs like a dog!

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Permalink Reply by Feather Winger on January 14, 2015 at 1:58pm

check     ..   www.spaceweather.com

..

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Permalink Reply by Ivor Carter on January 14, 2015 at 8:38pm

Wow! still you wouldn't have thought that it would effect communications. ISP says the backup system didn't work either! Cheers!

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