PROFESSOR CARRINGTON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: The Sun Just Unleashed a Huge Solar Flare, Triggers Radio Blackout in US. “As serious as it might sound, the impact on Earth was milder than it could have been as the flare died down without further incident. Astronomers saw no sign of a coronal mass ejection that commonly accompanies such events, which would have launched streams of plasma far into space. The eruption was consistent with the upward trajectory of the current solar cycle, and suggests we have some rowdy months ahead as we head towards the impending 11-year peak of solar activity. According to the Royal Observatory of Belgium, sunspot counts have reached a 21-year high, with the average for June hitting 163 sunspots a day.”