Our solar system is awesome.
On April 17, 2016, an active region on the sun’s right side released a mid-level solar flare, captured here by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. This solar flare caused moderate radio blackouts, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Scientists study active regions – which are areas of intense magnetism – to better understand why they sometimes erupt with such flares. This video was captured in several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, a type of light that is typically invisible to our eyes, but is color-coded in SDO images for easy viewing.
From NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Genna Duberstein.
Download this video, and visit NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Facebook.
YouTube: “NASA’s 4K View of April 17 Solar Flare.”