Powerful twin solar flares erupt from sun as cell phone outages spike across US (video)

Two outbursts from the sun occurred as widespread cellphone outages were reported throughout the United States on Thursday (Feb. 22). Two powerful solar flares erupted from the sun on the evening of Wednesday (Feb. 21) and during the early morning of Thursday (Feb. 22). An X1.8-class flare occurred at 6:07 p.m. ET (2307 GMT) on Feb. 21, and another, an X1.7 class flare, erupted at 1:32 a.m. ET (0632 GMT) on Feb. 22. The flares erupted from a region of the sun that "continues to exhibit strong magnetic complexity," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wrote in a statement...