Emerging sunspot releases mid-level solar flare
Monday, August 20, 2012 - 07:20
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) -- On August 17, the sun emitted a mid-level flare, peaking at 9:02 PM EDT. Solar flares are gigantic bursts of radiation that cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to harm humans on the ground, however when strong enough they can disrupt GPS and communications signals.