Fact Sheet
Zapped Again!
A solar flare last week produced the most powerful outburst of X-rays ever observed on the Sun, as recorded in this X-ray image by the orbiting SOHO observatory. The flare is the bright white burst at lower right. Unlike an outburst a few days earlier, though, this one struck only a glancing blow to Earth. The earlier outburst disabled a Japanese communications satellite, forced NASA to suspend the checkout of a new orbiting infrared observatory, interrupted some radio communications on Earth, and caused minor spikes in some power grids.
[Credit: SOHO/EIT (ESA & NASA)]
|