We're barely halfway through January and the year has already gotten off to a blazing start.
NASA shared an incredible photo showing the first big solar flare of 2015. Taken Monday night, the image from the space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the powerful burst being ejected at 11:24 p.m. ET.
While powerful bursts of particles and radiation may seem worrisome, the flares generally cannot pass through Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere.
A perfect storm of particles and intense radiation however can impact satellite and radio transmissions and cause flights to be re-routed due to the changes the energy can create in Earth's magnetic field.
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