A massive solar flare was unleashed today by the Sun in an impressive display captured in stunning imagery and video.  These events can be very hazardous to the Earth but NASA said due to the direction of the eruption, we will escape most of its effects.

The flare was part of a three-hour long event that peaked at 1:41am EDT (11:41pm MDT).  Captured on film and video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the display is amazing.

The large cloud of particles is seen spewing an incredible cloud of magnetic plasma into space.  It then rains back down on an area covering half of the surface of the sun.

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Earth appears to have been spared the effect of the coronal mass ejection (CME).  Some such events can be damaging to electronics including satellites and vulnerable power grids.  NASA said the CME is expected to arrive late on June 8th or 9th and auroras at higher latitudes may be more pronounced.

On the net: Sun Unleashes ‘Spectacular’ & Powerful Eruption (Space.com)