The Sun’s largest solar flare in more than 12 years – and the eighth largest since modern records began in 1996 – has been captured in high detail by a team of researchers from the University of Sheffield and Queen’s University Belfast.
The huge burst of radiation, which was not harmful to humans due to the Earth’s protective atmosphere and distance from the Sun, occurred unexpectedly on Wednesday 6 September 2017.
Image and footage from the The Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by the Institute for Solar Physics (ISP) of Stockholm University at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. UK access to the SST is funded by the Science and the Technology Facilities Council, Armagh Observatory, Northumbria University, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Sheffield.