Sun unleashes massive solar flare, biggest of 2014

Zee Media Bureau

Washington: The sun emitted a huge solar flare on February 24. Scientists are dubbing it as the biggest solar flare of 2014. The activity of this massive solar flare eruption peaked at around 7:49 p.m. EST. The image captured by NASA`s Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the first moments of an X-class flare in different wavelengths. 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 X4.9-class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. (With Agency inputs)