This is what a solar flare looks like

NASA captured this picture of the sun unleashing a huge solar flare yesterday afternoon. It came from the biggest sunspot in 24 years, known as AR 12192, which is about 80,000 miles wide.

Flares are powerful bursts of radiation from the sun. They can disrupt radio signals and some GPS equipment but any radiation they give off is absorbed by the earth's atmosphere.

As well as pictures, NASA scientists have previously caught solar flares on video. This is from April.

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