In May 2024, the largest solar flare since 2017 was detected, ranking at an X-8.7 magnitude. Then in 2025, a flare May 13 was classified as an X-1.2 , and another the next day was listed as an X-2.7.

Solar flares measured around X1 — like the May 13 and 14 events — indicate strong flare intensity. An X10 flare is described as as a severe event, according to NOAA.

A new sunspot forming on the surface of the sun might be about to fling solar flares in our direction. The sunspot, named 3856, is facing Earth and has developed a volatile type of magnetic field ...

There were a total of 54 X-class flares in 2024, according to SpaceWeatherLive.com, which maintains the oldest and most accurate publicly available dataset on solar flares.

A fiery X2.7-class solar flare that erupted from sunspot AR4087 early Tuesday morning (May 14), sending charged particles and plasma hurtling toward Earth. And experts warn, this is just the ...

Here’s how it works. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the right side – on Sept. 10, 2017.

Solar flares are categorized into flare classes, classified by the magnitude of soft X-rays observed in a narrow wavelength range of 0.1-0.8 nm.

The sun unleashed a massive X-class solar flare -- the most powerful it can generate -- on Tuesday evening that has the potential to pummel our planet with a powerful geomagnetic storm this weekend.

The X9.0 flare takes the crown from the previous strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, which was an X8.7 flare on May 14. Thursday's flare is the 15th strongest on record, reports Space Weather Watch.