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Sun Releases 2 Strong Solar Flares

The Sun emitted two strong solar flares, the first peaking at 9:07 p.m. ET on April 23. The second strong solar flare peaked at 4:13 a.m. ET on April 24. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured images of the events. 

On the left, an image of the Sun labeled X2.4. The Sun is against a black background. It appears as a dark gold color, with bright purple areas representing active regions. Toward the top right, there is a bright blue X with solar material. On the right side of the image, there is another Sun. This one is teal with swirls of black. On the top right, there is a bright blue and white X from the flare.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of solar flares — seen as the bright flashes in the top right — on April 23 and 24, 2026. The images show a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in in gold and blue on the left and teal on the right.
NASA/SDO

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.    

The first flare is classified as an X2.4 flare and the second is classified as an X2.5 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov/, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts. NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.