Powerful solar flares may shatter temperature expectations

How scientists measure solar flares

NASA gives this short narrated video about solar flares, how they are classified, and their effect on Earth. (Video courtesy: NASA)

Research by university scientists suggests that solar flares may be far hotter than previously believed, offering new insights into the Sun’s behavior. 

The findings, recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, indicate that ions within solar flares may reach temperatures more than 6.5 times higher than earlier estimates, according to researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Solar flares are sudden, intense bursts of energy in the Sun’s outer atmosphere that heat surrounding plasma to more than 100 million degrees Fahrenheit. 

Occasionally, these events can damage satellites, cause radio blackouts, disrupt power grids and create brilliant auroras visible from Earth.

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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare as seen in the bright flash on the lower left on June 20, 2023. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in yellow. 

(NASA / SDO / NASA)

Previous research had estimated temperatures at only around 18 million degrees Fahrenheit - far lower when compared to the new findings.

"Solar physics has historically assumed that ions and electrons must have the same temperature. However, redoing calculations with modern data, we found that ion and electron temperature differences can last for as long as tens of minutes in important parts of solar flares, opening the way to consider super-hot ions for the first time," Dr. Alexander Russell, a lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, said in a statement.

The extreme temperatures could also account for variations in color and size, potentially resolving long-standing mysteries of outer space. 

By understanding temperatures, scientists say they may be able to better explain why certain solar flares appear broader and more brilliant than others.

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Researchers believe that a better understanding of how solar flares release and distribute energy could lead to more accurate space weather forecasts.

Geomagnetic storms caused by intense solar activity can last for several days, disrupting everything from satellite operations and GPS navigation to power grids on Earth. 

NOAA uses a five-point scale to rank solar activity, but previous studies suggest that current forecasts may not accurately predict extreme events.

"We were excited by recent discoveries that a process called magnetic reconnection heats ions 6.5 times as much as electrons. This appears to be a universal law, and it has been confirmed in near-Earth space, the solar wind and computer simulations. However, nobody had previously connected work in those fields to solar flares," Russell stated.

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FOX Weather Meteorologist Amy Freeze explains what solar flares are and how they can impact life here on Earth.