NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory sees an X-class flare exploding off the right side of the sun. This image shows light in the 131-angstrom wavelength, which is particularly good for seeing material at the high temperatures present in solar flares and which is typically colorized in teal.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO

The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 8:27 p.m. EDT on April 24, 2014. Images of the flare were captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

To see how this event may impact Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

This flare is classified as an X1.4 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.

Updates will be provided as needed.

Karen C. Fox

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.