News Release

NASA's SDO sees sun emit mid-level flare Oct. 1

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA's SDO Sees Sun Emit Mid-Level Flare Oct. 1

image: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare - as seen in the bright flash on the lower right limb of the sun - at 8:12 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2015. The image is a blend of three wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light that have been colorized. view more 

Credit: Credits: NASA/SDO

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:13 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2015. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. 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.

To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings: http://spaceweather.gov/

This flare is classified as an M5.5 class flare. M-class flares are a tenth the size of the most intense flares, the X-class flares. The number provides more information about its strength. An M2 is twice as intense as an M1, an M3 is three times as intense, etc.

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