Two Stunning Solar Flares Caught in Action [VIDEO]

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught two incredible solar flares on film from start to finish on Tuesday, reminding researchers why they study these mysterious but stunning phenomena.

The agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) caught the first of two X-class solar flares erupting from the surface of the Sun to peak at 7:42 a.m. EDT, according to a NASA release.

Classified as a X2.2 flare, the burst of solar radiation appeared as a significantly large flash of light at the bottom-left of the sun, firing rays of blinding light and fiery debris across unfathomable distances in a remarkably short amount of time.

A second flare peaked only about an hour later and was captured on film at 8:55 a.m. EDT. This flare was slightly smaller in size, classified as a X1.5 flare. Images from the SDO - an unmanned orbital observational station that mostly "watches" the Sun's activity in several spectrums of light 24-hours a day - showed that these flares originated from the same side of the Sun.

Both flares were also caught on video and rendered by the Goddard Space Flight Center's Visualization Studio before being uploaded for the public's viewing pleasure.

[Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center]

Little is understood about solar flares, but recent observations from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have revealed that formations of plasma pressured by clashing and melding magnetic forces referred to as a "magnetic flux rope" just beneath the surface of the Sun cause flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) to occur once they breach the surface's ambient magnetic fields.

The resulting breach causes "the production of a surge in which plasma is rapidly accelerated to a speed of 70 thousand miles per hour within 10 minutes," according to the BBSO.

That is just what NASA's SDO saw Tuesday, and will see again in other displays - although not necessarily as stunning as these most recent flares.