Powerful Solar Flare Erupts From Sun – Captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
This flare is classified as an X-Class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.
An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. More info on how flares are classified can be found here.
To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts
NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort.