On 13 February, 2011, the Sun spewed out the strongest flare
that's been recorded in the current solar cycle. The culprit was
sunspot 1158, which happened to be pointed directly at Earth
when the category M6.6 flare was emitted. NASA's Solar Dynamics
Observatory captured a series of images, which were compiled
into the above video by Jason Major from Lights in the Dark.
They depict an intense flash of ultraviolet radiation located in
approximately the middle of the Sun's disc. A loud blast of
radio waves were emitted too, which recorded (MP3 link) by
Thomas Ashcraft in New Mexico between 19 Finally, there was a
quick but not especially strong coronal mass ejection, which is
expected to hit Earth's magnetic field on the evening of 15
February, so those in high latitudes should keep an eye out for
aurorae. It's not expected to cause too much damage to
electrical systems, but could temporarily black out radio
communications on the sunlit side of Earth. Sunspot 1158 was
barely visible on 12 February, but is now m