NASA’s SDO Sees Sun Emit Mid-Level Flare Oct. 1

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:13 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2015. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. 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.