Active October Sun Releases X Class Flare

Brighter than a shimmering ghost, faster than the flick of a black cats tail, the Sun cast a spell in our direction, just in time for Halloween. This imagery captured by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory covers a busy few days of activity between Oct. 2528 that ended with a significant solar flare. From late afternoon Oct. 25 through midmorning Oct. 26, an active region on the left limb of the Sun flickered with a series of small flares and petallike eruptions of solar material. Meanwhile, the Sun was sporting more active regions at its lower center, directly facing Earth. On Oct. 28, the biggest of these released a significant flare, which peaked at 11:35 a. m. EDT.