video: This NASA movie shows the July 6, 2012, X1.1 flare in the 171 Angstrom wavelength as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The source region, Sunspot AR1514, has been shooting M-class flares almost daily for the last week. Active Region 1514 released an X1.1 class flare from the lower right of the sun on July 6, 2012, peaking at 7:08 p.m. EDT. This flare caused a radio blackout, labeled as an R3 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations scale that goes from R1 to R5. Such blackouts can cause disruption to both high and low level radio frequencies. Earth's magnetosphere also underwent a minor geomagnetic storm on the evening of July 6 in response to relatively slow coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that have erupted from other regions on the sun since July 4. view more
Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA