Watch this crazy video of a monstrous X8.7 solar flare on the Sun

In a stunning display of its power, the sun unleashed its largest solar flare in 20 years. The X8.7 flare peaked at 12:51 p.m. ET on May 14 and was captured in several images by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which the agency has now turned into a video.

Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation that occur when magnetic energy built up in the Sun's atmosphere is suddenly released. These events can significantly impact Earth, disrupting satellite communications and causing auroras to appear at lower latitudes than usual.