NASA's SDO Captures Fourth Solar Flare from Giant Sunspot

The sun's activity is ramping up, and now NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has captured some of the images of solar flares.

On Oct. 27, a large active region on the sun erupted with another X-class flare, which is its fourth since Oct. 24. Classified as an X2.0, this flare is one of the strongest to be found.

X-class flares are the most intense flares, while the number associated with the flare gives more information about its strength. For example, a X2 flare is twice as intense as a X1 flare and a X3 flare is three times as intense.

Solar flares themselves are actually powerful bursts of radiation. While this radiation cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans, it can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

The first flare that appeared was classified as a M7.1-class flare, which is a step below X-class flares. The second was a bit weaker and classified as a M6.7-class flare.

What's interesting to note is that all of these solar flares erupted from a particularly large active region on the sun, labeled AR 12192. This active region is the largest sunspot seen on the sun in 24 years. Active regions are areas of intense and complex magnetic fields that are often the source of solar flares.

For more information about how these flares might impact the environment here on Earth, visit NOAA's website.