Holiday lights on the sun?!

Forget hobbits and sand creatures. Who needs make-believe CGI in movies when we've got NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory? This stunning video from NASA shows the sun emitting a solar flare on Friday.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation, according to NASA. When they're intense enough they can disturb Earth's atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said the impacts of the flare on the power grid and communications systems should be minor.