What Is Solar Flare? How Is It Different From Solar Storm & Coronal Mass Ejections

When you think about massive solar events, we often think about coronal mass ejections, solar storms and solar flares.

NASA

Also Read: Why Solar Storms Occur? How To Protect Internet, Life On Earth From Solar Storms

However, while one might think these occurrences can be used interchangeably since they both are essentially caused due to explosions on the Sun's surface, they¡¯re not the same thing.

What are solar flares?

According to NASA, a solar flare is an intense burst of radiation that comes from the release of magnetic energy linked with the sunspots. These are regarded as some of the largest explosive events of our solar system.

Flares are essentially giant bursts of X-rays and energy that travel at the speed of light across all directions in the solar system. They are often seen as flashes of light on the Sun. The flare releases photons at almost every wavelength of the spectrum.

NASA

Flares take around 8 minutes to reach Earth. They are essentially monitored through x-rays and optical lights. They¡¯re also the sites that see the acceleration of electrons, protons and other heavier particles.

Solar flares impact Earth only if they occur on the side of the sun facing the Earth. Since flares comprise photons they travel out of the area where the flare took place, thus if we are able to see the origin of the flare, it will impact us.

Also Read: Massive Solar Storms May Shutdown Internet Around The World, Fears Expert

What is coronal mass ejection?

Coronal mass ejections or CMEs are massive clouds of particles that are pushed out into space from the Sun¡¯s atmosphere.

Basically, the outer solar atmosphere, also known as the corona is made up of strong magnetic fields. In places where these fields are closed, usually over sunspot groups, the solar atmosphere can spontaneously release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields, which are called coronal mass ejections.

ESA

A massive CME can consist of a billion tons of matter and can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a breathtaking explosion. The explosions impact any planet or spacecraft in its path. These particles often take around two to three days to get to Earth, but only when the cloud was aimed at Earth during the explosion.

Solar flares and CMEs can occur both independently as well as together.

How do they differ from solar storms?

Solar storm is essentially a term used to describe atmospheric effects that are experienced on Earth from events like coronal mass ejections and solar flares that occur on the Sun.

Also Read: Solar Storms Seen In 1582 Could Hit Earth Again And Cause Damage, Warn Scientists

NASA

It is a result of either one or both of the following incidents on the star¡¯s surface that impact our planet.

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