14 DAY TRIAL // According to new data solar physicists obtained from the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft, the Sun released a massive solar flare on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. This is the first intense, X-class solar flare to be produced this year, experts reveal.
The flare was released at 1:32 pm EST (1832 GMT) yesterday, shortly after a medium-intensity, M-class flare was produced by an active solar region nearby. Our parent star is getting ready to reach a peak in its activity levels, coinciding with the conclusion of its latest, 11-year cycle.
The event SDO noticed was cataloged as an X1.2-class flare. These events are several times more intense than M-class flares, and many times stronger than C-class flares. It is also important to note here that an X2 event is twice as strong as an X1, and so on.
At this point, no space weather advisories have been released. This means that it is unlikely the material released during this eruption will affect power grids on Earth or satellite in orbit. When solar flares occur on the Earth-facing side of the Sun, they can cause negative effects on our planet.