Solar flares create spectacular views

Daily Mail: Earth's northern latitudes have been experiencing spectacular aurorae because of a 1 August eruption on the Sun that emitted a cloud of electrically charged particles—a coronal mass ejection. The first solar flare in a long while that has been aimed directly at Earth, the “solar tsunami” was really the result of two simultaneous events from different locations on the Sun: a huge flare above a giant sunspot and an even larger eruption across the Sun’s surface. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, launched in February, captured some high-quality views of the solar event, and Earth-based photographers captured some beautiful views of the resulting aurora.