# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/sIY8VpIaDA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11738441-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/51464d6d96.jpg
- **Posted:** 2014-08-25T18:20:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

On Aug. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This flare is classified as an M5 flare. M-class flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class flares.

Pictured here is a close-up of a moderate flare on Aug. 24, 2014, shows light in the 131 and 171 Angstrom wavelengths. The former wavelength, usually colorized in teal, highlights the extremely hot material of a flare. The latter, usually colorized in gold, highlights magnet loops in the sun's atmosphere.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO
#nasa #sun #solarflare #sdo #solardynamics #space

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 72,502
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 651

## Tags

sun, solardynamics, solarflare, nasa, space, sdo

---
Copyright (c) Gondola