Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.4 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.4 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 10:37 a.m. ET on May 29, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watches the Sun continuously and captured an image of the event.

The Sun, shown in orange, appears against a black background. A few bright yellow active regions appear across the Sun. A bright flash of yellow and white light can be seen on the lower left edge of the Sun against the black background. 

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—as seen in the bright flash on the left—on May 29, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in orange. 

The most famous sunspot in decades just had its name changed. AR3664 caused the great May 10, 2024, superstorm. It has been re-numbered AR3697 following a 2-week trip around the farside of the Sun. This is an old tradition in solar physics that started long ago when astronomers had no way to track the continuity of farside sunspots. 

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov/, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts. 

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO

Release Date: May 29, 2024

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