The sun is nearing the peak of its activity cycle, spitting out flares and plasma like a dragon.

July 12, 2012 This false-color image released by NASA shows a solar flare, lower center, erupting from the sun. The flare erupted from a region that rotated into view on July 6. A resulting geomagnetic storm is likely to hit Earth over the July 14-15 weekend, though U.S. agencies differed on predicting its severity. AP