Beautiful bursts on the solar surface, invisible to the human eye, have been recorded in high-resolution video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory at the early-July peak of the sun’s activity this year.
The most powerful X-class flares can cause disruption to GPS equipment on Earth – as well as triggering spectacular displays of northern lights.
NASA’s sun-watching satellite, the SDO, captured an image of an M7.6 solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the right side of the sun.
NASA said, ‘This is one of three flares that erupted in close succession. This image shows extreme ultraviolet light that is normally invisible to our eyes, but is here colorized in red.
‘Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however – when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.