Sun emits mid-level solar flare

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare late Monday night, peaking at midnight.

This image, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the bright flare near the center of the sun.

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.