The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which has been monitoring and observing the sun since it was launched in 2010, has captured images of the sun emitting a powerful solar flare that peaked at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
A solar flare occurs when a sudden flash of brightness is observed over the surface of the sun associated with the release of massive energy ranging up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy, or equivalent to about a sixth of the total energy released by the sun per second.
"Flares are our solar system's largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. We typically see a solar flare by the photons (or light) it releases, at most every wavelength of the spectrum," NASA said on its website.
On Wednesday, the sun spewed an X1.6 class solar flare which means that it was a very powerful blast as X-class flares refer to the most intense of solar flares. NASA explained that the number gives information about the flare's strength. An X2 flare, for instance, is two times more intense compared with an X1 flare.
The outburst of radiation was fired from a sunspot called Active Region 2158, which happens to be directly facing the earth and which also blasted off another powerful solar flare on Tuesday. Since the flare was pointed at our planet, a release of a cloud of plasma consists of electrically charged particles known as coronal mass ejection or CME, could have disruptive effects.
CMEs can trigger geomagnetic storms when they hit the Earth and this could occur two to three days after it is fired off. This phenomenon could momentarily disrupt electrical and communication systems such as radio communications, GPS signals and power grids. It could also intensify auroral displays.
Researchers from the National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said that analysis is being conducted to determine if the eruption has produced a CME. NASA officials, on the other hand, said that despite the intensity of the solar flare, it does not pose danger to anyone on Earth and on the astronauts who are currently based at the International Space Station.
"Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground," NASA said. "However -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel."
