February 16, 2024 X2.5 Solar Flare

  • Released Tuesday, February 20, 2024
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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the right of each image – on Feb. 16, 2024. The images show three subsets of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the extremely hot material in flares and which are colorized in teal, gold, and red. Credit: NASA/SDO

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 1:53 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.

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 X2.5 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

Animated GIF portion of the above. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the right of each image – on Feb. 16, 2024. The images show three subsets of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the extremely hot material in flares and which are colorized in teal, gold, and red. Credit: NASA/SDO

Animated GIF portion of the above. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the right of each image – on Feb. 16, 2024. The images show three subsets of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the extremely hot material in flares and which are colorized in teal, gold, and red. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash and eruption on the lower right – on Feb. 16, 2024. The image shows a blend of 171 Angstrom and 304 Angstrom light, subsets of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the plasma loops in the corona and the eruption of cooler plasma, respectively. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash and eruption on the lower right – on Feb. 16, 2024. The image shows a blend of 171 Angstrom and 304 Angstrom light, subsets of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the plasma loops in the corona and the eruption of cooler plasma, respectively. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the Sun on Feb. 16, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the loops of hot plasma in the solar corona, and which is colorized in yellow. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the Sun on Feb. 16, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights prominences and the chromosphere, and which is colorized in orange/red. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this imagery of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the lower right – on Feb. 16, 2024. The footage shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO

For More Information

See https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarcycle25/2024/02/16/strong-solar-flare-erupts-from-sun-9/

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. However, individual items should be credited as indicated above.

This page was originally published on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 10:12 AM EST.

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