Photos: Amazing Solar Flare Views of April 16, 2012

A beautiful prominence eruption shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on Monday, April 16, 2012. This view of the flare was recorded by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

M1.7 solar flare of 17:45 UT on April 16, 2012, tweeted by SDO. They added: "Great eruption happening on the sun now. Stay tuned for the movie #NASA #SUN."

M1.7 solar flare of 17:45 UT April 16, 2012.

NASA SDO tweeted this image of the M1.7 solar flare which erupted 17:45 UT on April 16, 2012, and wrote: "Another still of today's eruption in different wavelengths of EUV. Still waiting for the event to end for a movie."

A beautiful prominence eruption shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on Monday, April 16, 2012. Such eruptions are often associated with solar flares, and in this case an M1 class (medium-sized) flare did occur at the same time, though it was not aimed toward Earth. This event, which is still in progress, was seen by NASA’s SDO satellite.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory snapped high-definition video and images of the stunning April 16, 2012 solar flare.