Solar Flare

Sudden eruptions from the surface of the SunOur parent star. The structure of Sun's interior is the result of the hydrostatic equilibrium between gravity and the pressure of the gas. The interior consists of three shells: the core, radiative region, and convective region. Image source: http://eclipse99.nasa.gov/pages/SunActiv.html. The core is the hot, dense central region in which the. Flares typically last a few minutes and can release energies
equivalent to millions of hydrogenLightest and most common element in the universe (~92% by atoms; ~75% by mass). Hydrogen's isotopes are: • ¹H (99.9885 %)
• ²H (0.0115 %), also called deuterium.
• ³H, also called Tritium, is a radioactive (t½ = 12.32 y) by-product of atmospheric thermonuclear tests in Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere.
Click on Term to Read More bombs. Flares become frequent near sunspotRegions on the Sun’s surface that appear dark because they are cooler than the surrounding photosphere, typically by ~1500-1800 K. Sunspots develop and persist for periods ranging from hours to months, and are carried around the surface of the Sun by its rotation. Sunspots travel in pairs (north and south maximum, when smaller flares can occur daily and large flares can occur about once a week. During a flare the material in the flare may be heated to temperatures of 10 million K; matter at these temperatures emits copious amounts of UV and X-Ray, as well as visible light. In addition, flares tend to eject
matter, primarily in the form or protons and electrons, into space at velocities that can approach 1000 km/second. These latter events are coronal mass ejections, and produce bursts in the solar windSupersonic flow of high-speed charged particles continuously blowing off a star (mostly e- and p+). When originating from stars other than the Sun, it is sometimes called a "stellar" wind. The solar wind may be viewed as an extension of the corona into interplanetary space. The solar wind emanates radially that influence much of the rest of the Solar SystemThe Sun and set of objects orbiting around it including planets and their moons and rings, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids., including the Earth. The observation of a large flare on the surface of the Sun is usually a signal for increased auroras
and related activity several days hence when the ejected burst reaches Earth. Flares are also observed on other stars.