The Sun is never still, that we know. But… what is the level at which our star burns? On May 14, scientists observed something that caught their attention: the most powerful solar flare so far in 2025 was recorded. Exactly, the largest of the whole year, an X2.7-class flare, originating from a region of the sun called AR 4087, located in the eastern part of our star.
Its peak intensity was at 04:25 ET, and as if there weren’t already enough things happening in space, it seemed like the sun was going to explode. Now this is when the questions arise: did it affect our planet in any way? NASA scientists confirmed that this solar flare caused interference on the daytime side of the planet. But don’t panic! The sun is not going to explode (for now), and maybe when it does… none of us will be here to see it! Here’s everything that happened with the king of our solar system.
An X2.7 solar flare
Yes, the name sounds more like a Pokémon attack than anything else, but we’re going to tell you what an X2.7 solar flare is.
Solar flares are normally classified into several categories depending on their strength: A, B, C, M and X. X, of course, as you may have guessed, is the most powerful. When NASA classifies a flare with this letter, it means it is quite strong, so you can imagine the intensity of the X2.7 they recorded.
That’s it?
To give you an idea, one of these flares can release up to 10³² ergs of energy, approximately 2.4 × 10²⁵ joules, and if this sounds like a foreign language, let’s put it into perspective: that amount of energy is roughly the same as 10,000 times the energy released by all nuclear weapons on Earth combined. Can you imagine the power?
Also, the sun was very active that day, up to four M-class solar flares were recorded, less intense but just as incredible (especially because the energy released was insane).
And AR 4087, what is it?
Just like our planet is divided into zones or continents, the Sun is also divided into areas. In this case, region AR 4087 is an area where the magnetic field is so tangled that it accumulates energy until it (literally) bursts.
This has put all scientists and operators on alert because…
What happens when flares this powerful occur?
When these flares happen, there are interferences, blackouts, satellite malfunctions… Specifically, NASA explained that they had noticed interferences due to these energy releases.
Other times, NASA has issued warnings to astronauts (because they are exposed to higher doses of radiation), there are electrical failures in transformers, or even GPS signals in airplanes start to fail.
Are they dangerous?
Not very much for us. Considering the distance we are at, a flare of that magnitude can never reach us directly. Also, both NASA and NOAA assured that the global population was not in danger and they continue to monitor the behaviour of the Sun, because this activity tends to occur in cycles, so for now, it’s normal for more flares to be recorded, but that doesn’t mean our planet is going to explode.
Now we throw a question to you, have you realized how vulnerable we are without technology? Any cosmic event can make it fail and turn us into helpless beings without it… How scary!