* Astronomy

NASA's SDO Observes an X-class Flare: Nov. 7, 2014

The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 12:26 pm EST on Nov. 7, 2014. 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.
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