On Aug. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and STEREO captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. 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.
To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at , the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.
This flare is classified as an M5 flare. M-class flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class flares.
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To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at , the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.
This flare is classified as an M5 flare. M-class flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class flares.
Learn more at:
This video is public domain and can be downloaded at:
Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA's Goddard Shorts HD podcast:
Or find NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Facebook:
Or find us on Twitter:
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