M-FLARE AND RADIATION STORM: This morning around 0641 UT, magnetic fields above sunspot complex 1226-1227 became unstable and erupted. The blast produced an M2-class solar flare, an S1-class radiation storm, and a massive CME. A recording of the blast from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory ranks as one of the most beautiful and dramatic movies of the SDO era:

more movies: YouTube; 5 MB mpeg; 2 MB Quicktime

A video with commentary from solar physicist C. Alex Young of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center shows material splashing back to the stellar surface. “I’ve never seen material released this way before,” he says in the video. “It looks like someone kicked a clod of dirt in the air–an amazing, amazing event.”

To read more go to:    http://spaceweather.com/