NASA's
Solar Dynamics Observatory captures images of the sun in many
wavelengths of light at the same time, each of which is typically
colorized in a different color. Each wavelength shows different aspects
of the same event, as seen in these three images of a solar flare on
March 12, 2014.Image Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center
A
solar flare erupts on the far right side of the sun, in this image
captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare peaked at 6:34
p.m. EDT on March 12, 2014. Image Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center
The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 6:34 p.m. EDT on
March 12, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, captured
an image of it. 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 M9.3 flare, just slightly weaker than
the most intense flares, which are labeled X-class. The letters denote
broad categories of strength, while the numbers provide more
information. An M2 is twice as intense as an M1, an M3 is three times as
intense, etc.
This M9.3 flare was emitted by an active region — a magnetically
strong and complex region on the sun's surface — labeled AR 11996.
Updates will be provided as they are available on the flare and
whether there was an associated coronal mass ejection, or CME, another
solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and affect
electronic systems in satellites and on Earth.
