NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a mid-level solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the lower right hand side of the Sun – at 10:58 a.m. EDT on September 28, 2015.
The Sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 10:58 a.m. EDT on September 28. This SDO image shows a subset of extreme UV light that highlights the extraordinarily hot material in flares and which is typically colorized in red. Image credit: NASA / SDO.
Solar flares are powerful outbursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun lasting from minutes to hours.
Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through the atmosphere of our planet to affect humans on the ground.
However, when intense enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.
Researchers classify solar flares according to their brightness in the X-ray wavelengths.
There are three categories: C, M, and X.
The September 28 flare is classified as an M7.6 flare.
The number provides more information about its strength.
An M2 is twice as intense as an M1, an M3 is three times as intense, etc.
