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The Sun unleashes an X5.4 class flare

By Phil Plait Mar 6, 2012, 9:15 PM ET

Another Bad Astronomy debunkening.

Around midnight UTC last night, Active Region 1429 on the Sun exploded with a fairly large flare: rated at class X5.4, it was among the largest seen in the current cycle.

Video of the flare has been created using images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Yowza. This flare was big enough that it may cause some communication issues and will probably lead to some nice aurorae, but otherwise is no danger to us here on Earth. I haven't heard much else, but I'll update this as I do.

Tip o' the SPF 5000 to Camilla Corona SDO.

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