X Marks the Spot

An X1.4 (large) flare associated with a coronal mass ejection erupted from an active region facing right towards Earth (July 12, 2012). And sure enough when the cloud of particles got here, over the period of July 14-16, millions of people got to see beautiful aurora around the world.

The video in extreme ultraviolet light shows the numerous, bright flickerings of the flare over four hours using a cadence of one image per minute This still shows one of the brighter flashes. Credit: NASA/SDO

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