NASA Releases Video Of April 17 Solar Flare

First Posted: Apr 28, 2016 04:37 AM EDT
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An active region on the sun released a mid-level solar flare on April 17, causing "moderate" radio communication disturbances here on Earth. Not to worry though, due to the atmosphere, the radiation is said to be safe for humans.

A video of the flare was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which saw "several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light," which are invisible to the human eye. The said flare has since been classified as an M6.7 class - which is about a tenth of the size of the most intense flares.

According to the official classification scale in measuring flares, as noted by Discovery News, M flares mean medium strength. Other flare classifications include C flares (the weakest) and X flares (the strongest). M flares are around 10 times stronger than C flares, but are only a tenth of the strength of X flares.

This certain flare was seen to have come from an area of magnetic activity, known as the Active Region - and was labeled Active Region 2529, which has been sporting a sunspot prior to the explosion.

There is still no study that can predict what causes these sunspots to appear on the star, so scientists have been studying them carefully to better understand the phenomenon. The sunspot where the April 17 flare erupted from has been particularly interesting. It has changed its shape and size, making its way across the sun's face for a week and a half - and for the most part has been visible from the ground even without magnification. The massive sunspot from which the flare erupted was heart-shaped and large enough to fit in about five of our Earth inside.

NASA released the video that they captured - although the ultraviolet light is invisible to the human eye, they made some movie magic edits to color code it - and it looks majestic. Check it out:

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