Sun Releases Strong X1.5 Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Sun Releases Strong X1.5 Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 10:37 p.m. on July 28, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.

The Sun is shown in orange with dark splotches and bright yellow areas against a black background. Toward the center of the star is a bright yellow area—the solar flare.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash in the center–on July 28, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in yellow and orange.

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.

This flare is classified as an X1.5 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’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.

Credit: NASA/SDO

Release Date: July 29, 2024

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