Active Sun in Early May, 2022

  • Released Friday, May 6th, 2022
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 11:44AM
  • ID: 14159
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X1.1 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the upper right portion of the image – on May 3, 2022 at 13:25 UTC. The image is a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light – 131 angstrom – that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized teal.Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X1.1 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the upper right portion of the image – on May 3, 2022 at 13:25 UTC. The image is a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light – 131 angstrom – that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized teal.

Credit: NASA/SDO

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 X-class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. More info on how flares are classified can be found here.

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.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X1.1 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the upper right portion of the image – on May 3, 2022 at 13:25 UTC. The image is a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light – 171 angstrom – that highlights coronal loop structures and which is colorized yellow.Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X1.1 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the upper right portion of the image – on May 3, 2022 at 13:25 UTC. The image is a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light – 171 angstrom – that highlights coronal loop structures and which is colorized yellow.

Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an M 5.3 solar flare on May 3, 2022. The image shows a blend 171 and 131 angstrom light: extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in yellow. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an M 5.3 solar flare on May 3, 2022. The image shows a blend 171 and 131 angstrom light: extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in yellow. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an M 5.7 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the center of the image – on May 4, 2022. The image shows a blend of 171 and 131 angstrom imagery that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an M 5.7 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the center of the image – on May 4, 2022. The image shows a blend of 171 and 131 angstrom imagery that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. Credit: NASA/SDO

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. However, individual images should be credited as indicated above.

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