In May 2024, the largest solar flare since 2017 was detected, ranking at an X-8.7 magnitude. Then in 2025, a flare May 13 was classified as an X-1.2 , and another the next day was listed as an X-2.7.

Each of those classification levels represents a 10-fold increase in energy output, NASA says, meaning that an X-class flare, for example, is 10 times stronger than an M.

(NEXSTAR) — The sun, going through an active bout of Solar Cycle 25, spit out another intense flare over the weekend, bringing parts of the U.S. yet another chance at seeing the northern lights.

The solar flare recorded on the Sun was rated as "X1.08," meaning it ranks at the weaker end of the strongest flares that the sun produces. X-class flares only occur around 10 times each year.

The sun emitted the solar flare on Saturday, peaking around 10:48 a.m. EST, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.

A fiery X2.7-class solar flare that erupted from sunspot AR4087 early Tuesday morning (May 14), sending charged particles and plasma hurtling toward Earth. And experts warn, this is just the ...

Not only is this the most powerful explosion of the current solar cycle, which began in 2019, but it is also the most powerful since Sept. 10, 2017, when an X11.8 magnitude flare rocked the sun.