ANOTHER MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected an X6.3-class solar flare from sunspot AR3590 (Feb. 22 @ 2234 UT). This is the strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, and the third X-flare the sunspot has produced in a 24 hour period. Stay tuned for updates about this explosion, especially whether or not it has hurled a CME toward Earth. DON'T OVERLOOK THIS ERUPTION: Overshadowed by today's double-X flare, a magnetic filament erupted from the sun's northern hemisphere on Feb. 21st. Some of the the debris might hit Earth. The snapping filament hurled a bright CME into space. The bulk of the cloud will sail harmlessly ahead of our planet. However, a NASA model of the CME predicts the CME's flank will graze Earth on Feb. 25th. This could spark a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm. CELL PHONE OUTAGE: While solar flares can affect communication systems, it is highly unlikely that these two X-flares contributed to today's widely reported cell phone outages. The flares, while intense, did not cause a solar radiation storm. Moreover, the shortwave radio blackouts they did cause were too brief and too low in frequency to interfere with most cell phone communications. Other explanations are more likely. spaceweather