What is a solar flare? What are the causes of solar flares?

What is a solar flare, and what are the causes of solar flares?

♦ What is a solar flare? – An intense burst of radiation or light on the Sun is known as a solar flare. Solar flares are the most powerful explosive phenomena in our solar system.

The most powerful flares have the energy equivalent of a billion hydrogen bombs, which can provide enough energy to power the entire world for 20,000 years.

Imagine how long it would take the energy from a flare to reach our planet, while light only needs around 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth.

Read Also – A Strong Solar Flare Erupts from Sun, on January 5, 2023

♦ What causes solar flares?

Solar flares erupt from the Sun’s active regions. The active regions of the Sun are places where the Sun’s magnetic field is especially very intense (or strong) and chaotic (or turbulent).

The Sun’s interior motion, which contorts its own magnetic fields, forms active regions. Eventually, these magnetic fields build up tension and explosively realign, resembling the sudden release of a twisted rubber band. This process is known as “magnetic reconnection”.

This rapid energy transfer creates solar flares and other kinds of solar eruptions such as coronal mass ejections, solar energetic particle events, etc. In other words, this rapid energy transfer is the cause of solar flares and other types of solar eruptions.

Read Also – Effects of solar flares on Earth – How do solar flares affect Earth?

♦ How Big are Solar Flares?

Sizes of solar flares – Flares tend to come from active regions on the Sun several times the size of Earth or more. In other words, flares originate from active regions of the Sun that are several times the size of Earth or more.

♦ How long do solar flares last?

Duration of solar flares – Solar flares can last from a few minutes to several hours. The same active zone on the Sun can produce sometimes several solar flares in a series of sequences, erupting over the course of days or even weeks.

♦ How often do solar flares occur?

How common are solar flares? – Similar to earthquakes, solar flare frequency varies with size. The smaller flares erupt more often than larger ones.

Additionally, the number of flares also increases as the Sun nears the solar maximum, and decreases as the Sun nears the solar minimum. So, throughout the 11-year solar cycle, flares may occur several times a day or only a few times per month. (Source – NASA)

Read Also – Sun Releases Strong and Intense Solar Flare on October 2022

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