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Major Solar Flare

Sept. 18, 2017
On Sept. 10, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, observed the Sun erupting with an X8 solar flare, one of the largest of the current solar cycle.

The Sun erupted with an X8 solar flare, one of the largest of the current solar cycle (Sept. 10, 2017). Its source was the same sunspot region that produced an X9 flare last week. This is shown in two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light at the same time and each reveals different features. Both are colorized to identify in which wavelength they were observed. The coils of loops after the flare are the magnetic field lines reorganizing themselves after the eruption. The video clip covers about six hours.

Movies
PIA21958_X8_flare_Sept_big.mp4
PIA21958_X8_flare_Sept_sm.mp4

SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.

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