Month: January 2025

Strong Solar Flare Erupts from Sun

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 7:48 a.m. ET on Jan. 4, 2025. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

The Sun, shown in orange, against a black background. There are several dark splotches and bright orange and yellow regions. On the upper left, there is a bright white area — the flare.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager captured this image of a solar flare — seen as the bright flash on the left – on Jan. 4, 2025. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in orange. Credit: NOAA

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.8 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

Data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is temporarily unavailable because of flooding in the building that houses the mission’s data center. The image above was captured by the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on board NOAA’s GOES-East satellite.

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

Sun Releases Strong Solar Flare

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 5:41 p.m. ET on Jan. 3, 2025. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

The Sun appears in shades of green with some brighter and darker regions, set against a black background. In the upper left part of the Sun is a bright flash of white, a solar flare.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager captured this image of a solar flare — seen as the bright flash in the upper left – on Jan. 3. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in green. Credit: NOAA

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.1 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

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

Strong Flare Erupts from Sun

The Sun emitted a strong flare, peaking at 6:39 a.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 3. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

An ultraviolet image of the Sun with the bright flash of a flare visible on the upper left
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager captured this image of a solar flare — seen as the bright flash in the upper left – on Jan. 3. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in red and gold. Credit: NOAA

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X1.2 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

Data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is temporarily unavailable because of flooding in the building that houses the mission’s data center. The image above was captured by the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on board NOAA’s GOES-East satellite.

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