A Solar Flare Caught in Stunning Detail 🌞 Captured by ESA’s Solar Orbiter on 30 September 2024, this incredible M-class solar flare shows a sudden explosion of magnetic energy erupting from the Sun’s surface, a blast powerful enough to heat plasma to tens of millions of degrees and disrupt radio signals on Earth. Solar flares like this one are reminders of how closely our planet is tied to solar activity. The electromagnetic burst from these events can ripple through Earth’s upper atmosphere an

The Sun just fired off its most powerful kind of flare. At 1:09 p.m. EST on January 18, 2026, the Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a dramatic burst of light and energy emerging from the Sun’s surface. Classified as an X1.9 flare, this event is part of the most intense category of solar flares — with the potential to disrupt life here on Earth. Solar flares are sudden explosions of energy caused by the tangling, crossing, or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots. This particular f