Sun unleashes massive X1.1 solar flare to close out 2024 (photo)

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The huge solar flare may be the last big explosion from the sun this year.

A solar flare erupts from the sun in a region circled in yellow
An X1.1 solar flare erupts from the sun early on Dec. 29, 2024 in this image from the GOES-16 weather satellite operated by NOAA. (Image credit: NOAA/SWPC/GOES-16)

The sun is not quite done with 2024.

Early Sunday (Dec. 29), the sun fired off a class X1.1 solar flare, one of the most powerful types of solar explosions possible, in what may be its last major flare of 2024. The solar flare erupted from the northwest region of the Earth-facing side of the sun at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT) and spawned a strong radio blackout on parts of Earth, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) wrote in an update Sunday.

"Analysis is currently underway to determine if there was an associated coronal mass ejection, and any potential impacts," SWPC officials wrote in the update. Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are colossal eruptions of solar material that, when aimed at Earth, can amplify northern lights displays and interfere with satellites and power infrastructure on Earth.

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SWPC officials are tracking the impacts of the solar flare to determine if a CME event was associated with it. If so, it's possible that the flare could supercharge auroras on Earth in a sort of solar fireworks display in time for New Year celebrations.

But while the X1.1 solar flare was one of the most powerful type of flares possible, it wasn't the biggest solar flare of 2024. That title goes to an X9 solar flare on Oct. 3. It was the third largest solar flare since 2011 and the fifth largest since 2005.

SWPC officials watched the X1.1. flare erupt with an instrument on its GOES-16 weather satellite. GOES-16 is part of a fleet of NOAA and NASA spacecraft that monitor the sun continuously for solar flares and other space weather events.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.