The solar flare of 2012 did little damage to electronics or electrical infrastructure worldwide, but the solar flare gave stargazers amazing images of the Sun.
Below are some of the images that astronomers captured of the Sun both before and during the solar flare.
A handout picture shows Coronal Mass Ejection as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7, 2011. The Sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare, an S1-class (minor) radiation storm and a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7, 2011 from sunspot complex 1226-1227. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface. The sun is entering a more active phase due to peak in 2013 on a roughly 11-year sunspot cycle, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. Power supplies, air traffic control, communications and satellites can all be disrupted by storms. Picture taken June 7, 2011.REUTERSPower supplies were not affected by the massive solar flareReutersSolar activity is shown in an image made by NASA's SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument at 6:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) on October 28, 2003. The cloud, known to astronomers as a coronal mass ejection, is the one of the strongest ever detected since scientists started measuring these phenomena a quarter-century ago. When that cloud of particles gets here, perhaps by midday Wednesday, it could have severe effects, such as affecting some modern electronics and navigation equipment.REUTERSThe sun erupts with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle in this NASA handout photo taken on March 6, 2012. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 -- since the sun's activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007. The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun's normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.REUTERSThe sun erupts with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle in this multi-colored NASA handout photo taken on March 6, 2012. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare -- after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 -- since the sun's activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007. The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun's normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.REUTERSThe Solar Dynamics Observatory captures an M8.7 class flare in a handout photo released by NASA January 23, 2012. The flare is shown here in teal as that is the color typically used to show light in the 131 Angstrom wavelength, a wavelength in which it is easy to view solar flares. The flare began at 10:38 PM ET on January 22, 2012, peaked at 10:59 PM and ended at 11:34 PM. REUTERSNASA handout image shows the Sun acquired by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 8, 2012. A strong geomagnetic storm is racing from the Sun toward Earth, and its expected arrival on Thursday could affect power grids, airplane routes and space-based satellite navigation systems, U.S. space weather experts said.REUTERSThis image of a large X2 flare from the Sun taken on February 15, 2011, as seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light has been enlarged and superimposed on SOHO's C2 coronagraph for the same period, in this photograph released by NASA February 16, 2011. This was the largest flare in over four years. The coronagraph shows the faint edge of a "halo" coronal mass ejection (CME) as it races away from the Sun and was heading towards Earth. Scientists predict that this CME is likely to catch up with ones from February 13 and 14, and the whole mass of particles should reach Earth late February 18th.REUTERS
