Video: NASA Captures Solar Flare Footage

NASA captured a solar eruption leading to a solar flare around 1:45 p.m. EDT Monday.

Solar flares can wreak havoc on man-made satellites in space, shutting down GPS services and other electronics. If the flare is large enough, it can disable electronics on Earth. Monday's eruption wasn't aimed towards our planet, so there should be no consequences from the flare.

The sun's solar cycle is currently entering its most active period, and solar flares are likely to intensify until 2014. Several organizations are working on new solar flare-detection satellites that will give scientists more time to disable sensitive electronics in response to solar storms. Earlier this year, several large solar storms may have knocked military satellites temporarily offline. Watch NASA's raw footage of Monday's flare below.

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