A mid-level solar flare erupted on the sun late on Feb. 3, 2014, peaking at midnight EST. This image, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the bright flare near the center of the sun. Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, beginning at 11:57 p.m. EST on Feb. 3, 2014, and peaking at midnight EST. NASA released images of the flare as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

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 impact Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at spaceweather.gov , the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.

Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center