NASA captures brilliant solar flare erupting from the sun

New Delhi, Aug 03: NASA has spotted a solar flare erupting from the side of the sun. The American space agency has shared a video clip of the latest eruption on its website.

Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured the flare and noted hot debris coming out from the explosion site. Solar flares are large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the sun lasting from minutes to hours.

According to NASA, a solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system's largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. Magnetic energy from solar flares can interrupt radio communication on Earth or damage communications satellites.

A report on Newsweek states that the latest flare has been measured as a C9.3-class flare, which is a relatively weak classification.

According to spaceweather.com, as it was partially blocked by the sun's edge the strength is likely to have been understated. Solar flares are classified according to their strength. The smallest ones are A-class, followed by B, C, M and X, the largest. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9.

C-class and smaller flares are too weak to noticeably affect Earth while M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts at the poles and minor radiation storms that might endanger astronauts.