Detailed View of X1.4 Solar Flare at 171 Angstroms

The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this view of the flare in the Sun's southern hemisphere on July 12, 2012. The image shows the Sun as viewed at 131 Angstroms. Ultraviolet wavelengths help solar physicists study the fine magnetic structures in the Sun's super-heated atmosphere, or corona.