A solar flare is a huge release of energy at and near the surface of the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation and fast particles. On 19 January 2023 at around 11:00 UTC I was lucky enough to see a solar flare with my own eyes using a Coronado PST Solar Telescope that belongs to the Astronomical Society of Glasgow.

This audio was recorded the day after I had seen it so the details remained fresh in my mind.

A view of how the Sun appears through the Coronado PST Hα telescope taken with the main camera of Samsung Galaxy S9+ phone at the eyepiece, after much trial and error! This was taken on 20 January 2023 at 13:08 UTC the day after the flare. The enormous sun spot is still visible.

The X-ray flux from the Sun measured by the GOES satellite(s).

A short movie of images covering the period from 10:01 UTC to 11:21 UTC observed by the SDO satellite's AIA instrument.

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