Sun releases a powerful solar flare. But don't expect unusual northern lights in US
The sun has emitted a powerful solar flare that has the capability to interfere with technology on Earth.
The explosive burst of radiation peaked on the evening of Tuesday, June 17, matching the intensity of the first of two solar flares detected in May.
This particular flare wasn't accompanied by a geomagnetic storm that can strike Earth's magnetic field and trigger the northern lights. But because the flare occurred on the sun's Earth-facing side, a potential exists for things like radio communications, electric power grids and navigation signals to be disrupted, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Reports have already surfaced of a shortwave radio blackout centered over the Pacific Ocean that was especially strong over Hawaii, according to NOAA.
NASA also captured an image of the sun's bright energy burst, which it shared in a blog post.
Considered our solar system's largest explosive events, solar flares occur when magnetic energy associated with sunspots is released into space, creating intense bursts of radiation. These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections and can sometimes be as strong as a billion hydrogen bombs.
Solar flares can last mere minutes, or can drag on for hours, depending on their intensity. NASA classifies solar flares based on their strength, with A-class being the smallest and X-class – which is what was recently detected – being the largest.
Each letter represents a ten-fold increase in energy output and includes a scale of 1 to 9 in each class. The exception is the X-class since there are flares that have been recorded exceeding 10 times the power of an X-1.
In May 2024, the largest solar flare since 2017 was detected, ranking at an X-8.7 magnitude. Then in 2025, a May 13 flare was classified as an X-1.2 flare, while another the following day was listed as an X-2.7 flare.
But the most powerful flare measured with modern methods was in 2003. The event was so powerful that it overloaded the sensors measuring it, cutting out at X-28, according to NASA.
Solar flares and other solar activity, such as solar storms, increase every 11 years as the sun reaches the height of its 11-year cycle, the solar maximum, which last occurred in late 2024.
The flare detected recently was also classified as an X-1.2 magnitude, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which observes the sun, was able to capture an image of the event, which the agency said peaked at around 5:49 p.m. ET Tuesday, June 17.
Solar flares emit radiation, mostly in the form of ultraviolet light and X-rays, that can hurtle toward Earth at the speed of light. Some of these flares can be accompanied by coronal mass ejections, or clouds of plasma and charged particles, that emerge from the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona.
These ejections can collide with Earth's magnetosphere, the barrier protecting humanity from the harshest impacts of space weather, to produce geomagnetic storms that not only pose a hazard to Earthly technologies, but play a role in unleashing northern lights.
But because this powerful flare was not accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, don't expect any unusual aurora activity. The Space Weather Prediction Center tracks the northern lights through an online dashboard.
Weaker solar flares won't be noticeable here on Earth.
But those with enough energy output to rank as an X-class have the potential to disrupt satellites, communications systems, and even ground-based technologies like electric power grids if directed at our planet. In extreme cases, powerful flares even pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts, according to NASA.
About a year ago in May 2024, a historically powerful geomagnetic storm was responsible for some reports of power grid irregularities and interference with GPS signals – even farming equipment. On the bright side, it also unleashed spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible.
In this case, a rapid, intense flash of electromagnetic energy ranked as an R3 on NOAA's scale, making it strong enough to disrupt radio signals on the sunlit side of the planet. Ham radio operators around Hawaii may have noticed a loss of signal at frequencies below 25 MHz, according to spaceweather.com.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA captures image of powerful solar flare: See photo
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