Mid-level Solar Flare, 2nd October 2014

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NASA's Releases Images of a Mid-level Solar Flare

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 3:01 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun 24-hours a day, captured images of the flare. 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.

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Twisting Solar Eruption and Flare

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 3:01 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun 24-hours a day, captured images of the flare. 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.

This flare is classified as an M7.3 flare. M-class flares are one-tenth as powerful as the most powerful flares, which are designated X-class flares.

Music: “No Comment Before Sunset" by Lars Leonhard, courtesy of the artist and BineMusic.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Source: NASA - Goddard Media Studios

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An SDO image of the sun showing the flare has been posted in the Sun, Eclipses and Transits section of UM's Space Exploration gallery:

• SDO View of M7.3 Class Solar Flare on Oct. 2, 2014