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The sun unleashed at least eight solar flares on Wednesday (Dec. 14), and more are expected after a crackling sunspot emerged on the star's face.
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One of the solar flares, a powerful M6, caused a brief radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday at 9:42 a.m. EST (1442 GMT)
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Solar flares are bursts of electromagnetic radiation that travel at the speed of light.
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Those directed at Earth reach our planet within eight minutes of emerging from the sun's atmosphere.
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X flares are the most powerful solar flare category; the next level down is the M class, which describes most of Wednesday's observed flares.
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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured this shot of a solar flare erupting from the sunspot AR3165 (center) on Dec. 14, 2022.