A powerful burst of energy on New Year’s Eve created the largest solar flare that has been detected since 2017.
The event may sound serious, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) clarified that the general public had nothing to fear. However, the agency did put out a warning that the flare did pose the threat of temporarily disrupting high-frequency radio signals.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center also released an image of the flare Sunday, which appeared as a glowing spot on the sun’s surface.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory similarly captured an image of the massive flare, which the space agency colorized in yellow and orange to emphasize the extreme intensity of the heat and ultraviolet light that the flare emitted.
What are solar flares and what threats do they pose?
Considered our solar system’s largest explosive events, solar flares occur when magnetic energy associated with sunspots is released, creating intense bursts of radiation.
