September 2017 Starts With Flare (VIDEO) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center This video is under embargo. Please login to access this video. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Caption NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured images of the events. 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 video shows the sequence of M and X flares starting on Sept. 4, 2017, and culminating with an X9.3 flare -- the largest of the solar cycle so far, on Sept. 6. Download from: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12706 Credit NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.