The sun emitted a mid-level flare on Dec. 18, 2014, at 4:58 p.m. EST. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured this image showing the bright spot near the center of the sun. SDO observes light in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths that can highlight the intense heat present in a solar 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 M6.9-class flare. M-class flares are a tenth the size of the most intense flares, the X-class flares. 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.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO
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