Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.1 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Sun Releases Strong Solar X1.1 Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 2:40 a.m. ET on Aug. 14, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event.

A portion of the Sun, shown in teal. In the middle a large flash of light bursts out, appearing white.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash in the center—on Aug. 14, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in teal.

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 X1.1 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

The Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.

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.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Duration: 1 second

Release Date: Aug. 14, 2024

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