NASA’s SDO Captures Solar Flare [VIDEO]

Last week, the closest star to Earth emitted an M-class solar flare into the depths of space. This spectacular event was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

In the last few weeks there has been a lot of solar activity. On April 2^nd the sun again unleashed an M-class solar flare. This solar flare that peaked at 10.05 a.m. EDT was preceded by an X-class solar flare that erupted on March 29 from sunspot Active Region (AR) 2017 at 10 degrees North and 48 degrees West.

 The entire solar activity captured by SDO was classified as M6.5 flare. Solar flares classified as M-Class are mid-level flares and are ten times less powerful than the X-Class flares-the most intense and powerful flares.

The National Weather Service Space Weather Prediction Center wrote, "Region 2027 produced a R2 (Moderate) Solar Flare Radio Blackout event at 1405 UTC (10:05 a.m. EDT) on April 2^nd.  The coronal mass ejection from this event is off the Sun-Earth line but analysis continues to see if any glancing blow can be expected.  Meanwhile, G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storming is still expected on April 2^nd as a result of the R3 (Strong) event of the 29^th."

Solar flares are bursts of powerful radiation that emit hazardous material in the space. None of them are harmful as they cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere but they are capable of knocking down radio signals.  Similar to hurricanes these solar flares are classified according to their intensity, in which X indicates the strongest flare and A refers to the weakest followed by B, C and M. The strength of the flare within the same class is designated with numbers like 1, 2 and 3 according to strength.

The spaceWeather.com stated that "NOAA forecasters estimate a 35 percent to 60 percent chance of polar geomagnetic storms on April 1-2 when at least three CMEs are expected to deliver glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field. The best-guess forecast calls for minor G1-class storms. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras."

Reports from western Australia  state that the recent solar flare knocked out communication signals of Russian global positioning satellites and this led to disruption in the GPS system the miners use in the area.

Based on the solar cycle, the Sun is again at its peak of solar activity though it is predicted to be milder than that of 2001 which was active unleashing nearly 10 times more UV light than seen in  normal periods.