Last month, a flash of X-rays have been detected coming from the western edge of the solar disk. The blast at first appeared to be a run-of-the-mill eruption, until researchers looked at the movies.

“We’d never seen anything like it,” said Alex Young, a solar physicist at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, of the videos recorded by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on 7 June 2011. “Half of the Sun appeared to be blowing itself to bits.”

“In terms of raw power, this really was just a medium-sized eruption,” said Young, “but it had a uniquely dramatic appearance caused by all the inky-dark material. We don’t usually see that.”

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