See NASA’s image of an intense X-class solar flare

NASA captured an image of an intense solar flare released by the sun on Tuesday evening.

The solar flare peaked at 5:49 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory said. It was an X-class flare — the most intense kind, NASA said. Solar flares are essentially “giant explosions on the sun” that send energy, light and high-speed particles into space, according to NASA.

An image captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun, colorized in teal to draw attention to the flare. The flare is visible as a bright flash at the center of the sun. The heat of a solar flare causes it to appear bright. 

The energy from solar flares can be disruptive, NASA says on its website. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids and navigation signals. They also can pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

Solar flares are also often associated with coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. CMEs are huge bubbles of coronal plasma that the sun occasionally ejects, NASA says online. Often, CMEs look like “huge, twisted ropes,” NASA says, because they involve the sun’s magnetic fields. Coronal mass ejections can also disrupt radio and satellite communications, and can also cause geomagnetic storms on Earth.

In May 2024, a powerful coronal mass ejection brought the strongest geomagnetic storm in over 20 years to Earth. During the CME, multiple X-class solar flares were recorded. The storm caused some radio blackouts. Another strong geomagnetic storm in October 2024 led to the northern lights being visible as far south as Florida and over bright areas like New York City and Chicago.