NASA Captures Most Precise Image of a X-Class Solar Flare to Date (VIDEO)

NASA has captured the most precise image of a solar flare to date. On March 29, an X-class flare erupted from the right side of the sun and was witnessed by a total of four different NASA spacecraft and one ground-based observatory, revealing new information about these types of phenomena.

"This is the most comprehensive data set ever collected by NASA's Heliophysics Systems Observatory," said Jonathan Cirtain, project scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, in a news release. "Some of the spacecraft observe the whole sun all the time, but three of the observatories had coordinated in advance to focus on a specific active region of the sun. We need at least a day to program in observation time and the target-so it was extremely fortunate that we caught this X-class flare."

Like hurricanes, solar flares are classified based on their intensity. The weakest are A-class flares, followed by B, C and then M. The strongest solar flares are labeled X-class flares, and can pose risks to astronauts and satellites in orbit.

This event was unprecedented in terms of the data collected. In just a few minutes, the most comprehensive flare data set of all time has been collected. This was particularly exciting for the IRIS time, since it was the first ever X-class flare observed by the satellite. Now, scientists are working on teasing out a more detailed picture about how a flare starts and peaks. This, in turn, could help researchers better predict space weather.

The new data should help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off a solar flare. This could help scientists warn Earth of potential radio blackouts that solar flares can cause which can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications.

Want to learn more about the flare and see it for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of NASA and YouTube.