Caught on camera: Things are hotting up as Nasa captures huge solar flare and coronal mass ejection on the same day
An enormous solar flare that erupted from the sun on Thursday has been classed an X1.9 flare - making it one of the largest storms our star can produce.
The solar flare came from a giant sunspot that was sighted earlier this week, itself one of the largest seen in years.
Experts at Nasa knew to expect big things from the sunspot, but the sheer magnitude of the flare left them in awe.
Sun storm: This image, provided by NASA, shows giant sun spot activity on Thursday, from a region on the sun that scientists are variously calling AR11339 and the 'benevolent monster'
The flare was so powerful that it disrupted communications systems on earth around 45 minutes later.
The event began at 8.27pm GMT, and Nasa officials said in a statement that it 'triggered some disruption to radio communications on Earth'.
Nasa added: 'Scientists are continuing to watch this active region as it could well produce additional solar activity as it passes across the front of the sun.'
Later on the same day, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed blasting from the sun in the direction of Venus.
Coronal mass ejection: Nasa's Stereo twin orbiters (one spacecraft ahead of the earth's orbit and the other trailing behind) can provide a 360-degree view of the sun. The leading Stereo craft caught this image of the CME
Space.com's Clara Moskowitz said Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory and twin Stereo sun-watching spacecraft snapped photos and video of both the flare and the CME during the storm.
A solar flare is a powerful release of energy associated increased magnetic activity on the surface of the sun.
While a flare looks like a bright cloud whipping from the sun, the magnetic activity on the surface creates dark areas called sunspots.
The storm spot, variously called AR11339 or the 'benevolent monster', is about 50,000 miles long - which makes it several times wider than the Earth.
Nasa says we haven't seen the last of major activity from this particular section of the sun. It is just part of a larger increase in activity as the sun ramps up to a peak of activity in its 11-year cycle around 2013.