[5][6] Starting at around 10:41 UTC, GOES satellites began detecting a strong, S3, solar particle event[note 2] associated with the ongoing X5.7-class flare.

[1] This resulted in high energy protons penetrating and ionizing parts of the Earth's ionosphere and creating noise in various satellite imaging systems such as in the EIT and LASCO instruments.

[3] Some of these particles had sufficient energy to generate effects measured on Earth's surface, an event referred to as a ground level enhancement.

Although the flare was not extremely large, the associated solar particle event was the fourth largest since 1967.

[10] Due to being the first major solar storm since the launch of various solar-monitoring satellites, the Bastille Day event proved important towards helping scientists piece together a general theory of how eruptions on the sun occur as well as protecting the Earth from a larger event, such as a Carrington-class event, some day in the future.