Text and Image Font : NASA.gov
On Aug. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare,
peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of
the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. 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 M5 flare. M-class
flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class
flares. Image Credit: NASA/SDO