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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—as seen in the bright flash on the top right area of the sun—on July 2, 2023. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO
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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare—as seen in the bright flash on the top right area of the sun—on July 2, 2023. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO
The sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 7:14 p.m. ET on July 2, 2023. 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 X1.0 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.