An unusually large solar flare exploded from the surface of the sun, putting a tremendous amount of solar material into space which is on a collision course with the Earth.

A solar flare, an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots, is the solar system’s largest explosive event. It can be seen as bright areas on the sun and can last from minutes to hours.

According to NASA, the Sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare, an S1-class (minor) radiation storm and a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7, 2011 from sunspot complex 1226-1227. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the flare's peak at 1:41a.m. ET (0641 UT). SDO recorded images in extreme ultraviolet light that show a very large eruption of cool gas. SDO said it is somewhat unique because at many places in the eruption there seems to be even cooler material -- at temperatures less than 80,000 K.

This not-squarely Earth-directed CME is moving at 1400 km/s according to NASA models. The CME should deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of June 8th or June 9th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the CME arrives.

The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path.

Solar storm could be disastrous

A major solar storm could be disastrous considering today's connected world and our reliance on satellites. According to National Geographic, the solar flare material could disrupt power grids and damage satellites. If one of these powerful flares and its coronal mass ejection faces Earth, the particles will pound satellite components with charged particles, short some out, and potentially cripple them. A solar storm in 1859, for example, caused telegraph lines to burst into flames.

Scientists have been expecting an increase in solar activity because the sun is moving into a more volatile period of an 11-year cycle in which its magnetic field reverses its orientation. A solar maximum is expected in 2013. Michael Hesse, chief of NASA's Space Weather Laboratory at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland said the worst-case scenario is an extreme event.

"If it were to happen and we don't take any precautions, it would probably knock out our power grid for an extended period of time and destroy a sizable fraction of our satellite infrastructure."