NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the lower right – on May 9, 2024. The composite image combines three wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light that highlight the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in green, blue, and red. Credit: NASA/SDO’s Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a significant solar flare that peaked at 1:44 p.m. ET.
The classification of solar flares is based on their brightness in the x-ray wavelengths. The classes are labeled as A, B, C, M, and X, with A being the weakest and X being the strongest. Each class has a tenfold increase in energy output compared to the preceding one. Within each class, there is a finer scale from 1 to 9 that quantifies more precisely the strength of the flare. For instance, an X1 flare is ten times as powerful as an M1 flare but is considerably weaker than an X9 flare.
Equipped with a suite of instruments, SDO captures high-resolution images of the Sun in 13 different wavelengths every few seconds. This includes capturing images in ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, and visible light spectrums, which help in observing the solar atmosphere with incredible detail. SDO’s data is crucial for understanding the solar variations that influence life on Earth and the technological systems in space.
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