By Andrew Freedman From Mashable

Starting on June 10, the sun emitted a series of powerful solar flares, known as “X-Class” flares, which were observed in brilliant colors by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flares erupted from the left side of the sun, twice on June 10 and once on June 11, according to NASA.

Wednesday’s flare was classified as an X1.0, whereas Tuesday’s flares were a bit stronger, at X1.5 and X2.2. According to NASA, “X-Class” flares are the most intense of all solar flares. An X2 flare is twice as intense as an X1, and an X3 is three times as intense as an X1.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation emitted from the sun, but the radiation cannot pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. However, if the energy emitted from the sun is of sufficient strength and emitted at a particular angle toward Earth, it can significantly disrupt satellite-based communications, including GPS navigation systems.

Solar Flare

The second X-Class flare of June 10, 2014, appears as a bright flash on the left side of this image, which shows light in the 193-angstrom wavelength, which is typically colorized in yellow. It was captured at 8:55 a.m EDT, just after the flare peaked.

The June 11 solar flare was not accompanied by Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), which consist of the expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s corona. When CMEs hit Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms and the aurora.

Because of the potential for solar activity to disrupt communication, navigation, and electrical networks on Earth, the U.S. government monitors and forecasts space weather conditions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. Forecasters there said none of the recent flares would significantly affect the Earth.

However, a pair of radio blackouts associated with the solar flares occurred on June 10 and June 11, which affected high frequency communications on the daylit side of the Earth at the time each flare occurred. High frequency communications are used by commercial aircraft over the open ocean, for example.

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