NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured the Sun emitting a strong X5.0 flare that peaked at 4:55 p.m. EST, on Dec. 31, 2023. It can be seen in the bright flash on the far left, but the image actually shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares,colorized in yellow and orange.
If you’re unfamiliar with solar flares, they are essentially powerful bursts of energy that can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and also pose risks to spacecraft as well as astronauts. This X5.0 flare (R3 strong radio blackout) was the strongest observed since September 2017.
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NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth,” said Denise Hill, Strategic Communications & Outreach Lead at NASA.
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