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                       Sun Unleashes Massive Solar Flares

   by VOA News

   The Sun has emitted four giant, X-class flares over the past few days,
   the most recent coming May 14. X-class flares are the largest class of
   solar flares.
   [1]According to NASA, the latest flare was accompanied by a coronal
   mass ejection (CME), which is a huge release of matter and radiation in
   the form of plasma, a collection of charged particles reacting to an
   electromagnetic field. CMEs erupt with billions of tons of solar
   material. The matter can travel at speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per
   second.
   In the case of the May 14 flare, most of the radiation was not directed
   at Earth, but that it could affect the Spitzer space telescope and
   Epoxi probe, NASA said. If needed, those spacecraft could be protected
   from solar radiation by shifting into safe mode. The [2]Epoxi craft
   observes comets, and the [3]Spitzer telescope observes celestial bodies
   using infrared technology.
   Below is a video of all four recent solar flares:

   IFRAME: [4]http://www.youtube.com/embed/460wGX4V9WQ
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   [5]http://www.voanews.com/content/sun-unleashes-massive-solar-flares/16
   61774.html

References

   1. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News051513-ar1748.html
   2. http://epoxi.umd.edu/
   3. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/
   4. http://www.youtube.com/embed/460wGX4V9WQ
   5. http://www.voanews.com/content/sun-unleashes-massive-solar-flares/1661774.html