Solar Fireworks

  • Released Thursday, August 11, 2016
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A NASA spacecraft records a trio of flares on the sun.

A NASA spacecraft records a trio of flares on the sun.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. During flares, a large amount of magnetic energy is released, heating the sun’s atmosphere and sending energized particles out into space. On July 22-23, 2016, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory observed three solar flares erupt in relatively quick succession. To the spacecraft’s high-resolution imaging telescopes, the flares appeared as bright flashes on the right side of the sun. The sun is currently in a period of low activity, moving toward what's called solar minimum when there are few to no solar eruptions. Although the flares are categorized as mid-strength, or M-class, flares, which are substantially less intense than the most powerful X-class flares, they were the first large ones seen since April 2016. Watch the video for views of the event.

This video shows images of three solar flares captured in different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light by the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

The first solar flare (shown above) peaked at 10:11 pm EDT on July 22, 2016.

The first solar flare (shown above) peaked at 10:11 pm EDT on July 22, 2016.

The second—and strongest—solar flare (shown above) peaked at 1:16 am EDT on July 23, 2016.

The second—and strongest—solar flare (shown above) peaked at 1:16 am EDT on July 23, 2016.

The final solar flare (shown above) peaked at 1:31 am EDT on July 23, 2016.

The final solar flare (shown above) peaked at 1:31 am EDT on July 23, 2016.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Video and images courtesy of NASA/SDO

This page was originally published on Thursday, August 11, 2016.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:48 PM EDT.