Do solar flares affect us on Earth? How often do they happen? Can we predict them? Find the answers to these burning questions and more in the Solar Flares FAQs: https://go.nasa.gov/3m9w4p4 | NASA Space Alerts

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare on Nov. 30, 2025, peaking at 9:49 p.m. ET. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of the event, which was classified as X1.9 class: go.nasa.gov/4alXf6P Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS & communications signals travel. To see how such sp

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare peaking at 3:08 a.m. ET on May 27, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured imagery of the event, which was classified as X2.8: go.nasa.gov/3KhHShN Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS & communications signals travel. To see how such space weath

Today’s BIG solar flare is causing all these amazing northern lights. It peaked at X5.1 intensity—the strongest flare of 2025 so far and the most powerful since an X9.0 event in October 2024. Solar flares are ranked by their X-ray brightness in 5 classes (A, B, C, M, X), with each class representing a 10x increase in energy output. Within the X class (the most intense), the number indicates further strength. - X1: Baseline strong flare. - X5: About 5x stronger than X1, releasing energy equivalen

The sun unleashed an enormous #solarflare on Wednesday. #NASA cameras captured the remarkable eruption. It is being called the largest of the year so far. The flare was directed towards Earth, Space.com reported, and that meant that it caused a bit of trouble for earthlings. Radiation released by the flare caused a radio blackout, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. Solar flares occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Flares are