Etna eruption closes air space

Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, has erupted, sending up a towering plume of ash visible in much of eastern Sicily.

Etna's eruptions are not infrequent, although the last major one occurred in 1992.

A spokesman for Catania Airport said the eruption forced the closure of nearby air space before dawn, but authorities later lifted the order.

Several inhabited villages dot the mountain's slopes, but evacuations were not necessary despite the lava flow.

Press Association

Sun unleashed one of its strongest solar flares

Solar flares this week knocked out radio transmissions and had the potential to disrupt satellite communications and possibly harm astronauts in orbit.

A series of solar flares starting Wednesday and lasting into at least Friday were similar in strength to ones that in the past caused radio blackouts at the north and south poles and caused problems with GPS satellites and power grids, according to NASA.

The strongest flare came early Friday morning, just after 4am, and was rated as an X1.7-solar event, according to NBC News. The flare erupted from a newly discovered sunspot cluster, Region 1882, and caused a momentary radio blackout, officials said.



Burning up: The latest solar flare, on the sun's left side, was caught in this x-ray image

Scientists have three classifications for solar flares – C, M and X – with C being the weakest. X-level solar flares aimed directly at Earth have in the past wreaked havoc with satellite communications and GPS, as well as put orbiting astronauts in danger.

Stronger X-level eruptions fired squarely at our planet have been known to cause problems with power grids as well. This latest flare does not appear to have been aimed directly at Earth, officials told NBC News.

Scientists are also awaiting the results of geothermal imaging to determine if the flare was linked to a massive super-hot plasma explosion that hurled solar material into space at speeds upwards of 1million mph, according to NBC News.

Flares occurring earlier in the week peaked at M9.4 on Wednesday, with less M-class flares following the peak flare, according to NASA. Wednesday’s peak flare was linked to a massive plasma explosion, also known as a coronal mass ejection.


A bright flash: As seen by the naked eye, the solar flare is the bright flash on the sun's left side


One more time: This is the close up of the x-ray view of the solar flare, again on the left side



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