Holiday Lights on the Sun:
Imagery of a Solar Flare
The sun emitted a
significant solar flare, peaking at 7:28 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, 2014. NASA’s
Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image
of the event. 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 X1.8-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. Image Credit:
NASA/SDO 12/22/2014
11:00 AM EST
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