September 29, 2014

Image Credit: NASA/SDO

Karen C. Fox, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 10:58 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27, 2014, and NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation from the sun. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earths 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 have affected Earth, please visit NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. governments official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

This flare is classified as an M5.1 flare. M-class flares are one-tenth as powerful as the most powerful flares, designated X-class flares.

Further updates will be provided as needed.

What is a solar flare?

For answers to this and other space weather questions, please visit the Spaceweather Frequently Asked Questions page.

Related Link

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NASA's Releases Images Of A Mid-Level Solar Flare