Solar flares occur as a result of the build-up of magnetic energy inside the solar atmosphere which is released through the process of a sudden flash of brightness on the sun’s surface. The magnetic energy built up is released from the corona of the sun in the form of radiation across the whole electromagnetic. [10] For a solar flare to take place it requires an incredible 6 × 1025 Joules which is over 25,000 times more energy than that released throughout the impact of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet which separated into 21 fragments with the first colliding with planet Jupiter on the 16 July 1994. [11] Solar flares can often coincide with Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) however they don’t always. [1]
What causes Solar Flare?
Sunspots are a natural …show more content…
There are a total of three type’s flares that exist which are currently known to man. The first being a solar flare which is commonly produced by the sun, the second is “Nanoflares” and the third is “Superflares”.
For many years the mystery of what causes the temperature of the sun’s corona to exceed that of the sun’s surface by up to 300 times has puzzled early astronomers for centuries until American solar astrophysicist Eugene N. Parker proposed the idea that countless tiny nanoflares which contained a billion times less energetic than solar flares, were occurring all over the sun’s surface and causing such a high temperature in the suns corona. [16] However nanoflares still have an energy level equal to that of 10,000 atomic fission bombs. As a result of having such a small energy level compared to that of a solar flare, nanoflares only appear as microscopic brightening’s of the sun’s surface. While the sun can go for periods of a few days up to months without even producing a solar flare, nanoflares are constantly occurring all over the surface of the sun. The reason that it took so long for nanoflares to be discovered and that there is little known about them is because nanoflares can’t be observed directly using the GOES or the RHESSI as they are so small. Therefore they must be studied by looking at the footprints they leave behind on the
What causes Solar Flare?
Sunspots are a natural …show more content…
There are a total of three type’s flares that exist which are currently known to man. The first being a solar flare which is commonly produced by the sun, the second is “Nanoflares” and the third is “Superflares”.
For many years the mystery of what causes the temperature of the sun’s corona to exceed that of the sun’s surface by up to 300 times has puzzled early astronomers for centuries until American solar astrophysicist Eugene N. Parker proposed the idea that countless tiny nanoflares which contained a billion times less energetic than solar flares, were occurring all over the sun’s surface and causing such a high temperature in the suns corona. [16] However nanoflares still have an energy level equal to that of 10,000 atomic fission bombs. As a result of having such a small energy level compared to that of a solar flare, nanoflares only appear as microscopic brightening’s of the sun’s surface. While the sun can go for periods of a few days up to months without even producing a solar flare, nanoflares are constantly occurring all over the surface of the sun. The reason that it took so long for nanoflares to be discovered and that there is little known about them is because nanoflares can’t be observed directly using the GOES or the RHESSI as they are so small. Therefore they must be studied by looking at the footprints they leave behind on the