Sun Spews 1st Solar Flare for 2015

Hey Space Placers!

The Sun remains active into 2015 as it produced the year's 1st solar flare visible on the right:

NASA SDO

As provided by NASA:

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 11:24 p.m. EST on Jan. 12, 2015. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. 

We'll see how the Sun behaves in 2015 but it should be heading into less activity as it winds down from the last Solar Maximum into a new Solar Minimum.

Sky Guy in VA