A strong X1.9 solar flare erupted from the sun's surface at 9:49 p.m. ET on Nov. 30, and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught it in action. The flare appears as a bright flash on the Sun’s edge, followed by a plume of hot material rising into space. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. They can disturb radio communications, affect navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts — which is why NASA and NOAA track them so closely. Credit: NASA/SDO | NASA 360

Saturn’s spectacular rings are remarkably wide yet extraordinarily thin, and they are tilted relative to the planet’s orbital plane around the Sun. Approximately every 15 years, the rings appear perfectly edge-on from our perspective, aligning perpendicular to the line of sight to the Sun. During these rare alignments, several of Saturn’s moons can cast crisp shadows onto the rings themselves. This captivating time-lapse sequence captures four icy moons—Enceladus, Mimas, Dione, and Tethys—as the