A strong flare (X-class, the largest class) erupted into space from an active region that was roughly facing towards Earth on March 11, 2015.
A strong flare (X-class, the largest class) erupted into space from an active region that was roughly facing towards Earth (Mar. 11, 2015). X-class flares are rather uncommon. The bright flash of the flare was followed by streams of dark ejecta that move across the Sun to the left. The flare did cause some radio blackouts on Earth when it disturbed our ionosphere. It appears that the flare was associated with a coronal mass ejection as well, though its trajectory is still unclear. The images were taken in extreme ultraviolet light. The video clip covers about 2.5 hours. Credit: NASA/SDO