 |
| A new assessment of solar flares by a team led by CU-Boulder indicates some are more powerful and last longer than scientists had previously thought, findings that have implications for mitigating damage by solar storms to navigate and communication systems on Earth. (Photo by NASA /SDO/AIA) |
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which is carrying a suite of instruments including a $32 million University of Colorado Boulder package, has provided scientists with new information that energy from some solar flares is stronger and lasts longer than previously thought.
Using SDO's Extreme ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE instrument designed and built at CU-Boulder, scientists have observed that radiation from solar flares sometimes continues for up to five hours beyond the initial minutes of the main phase of a solar flare occurrence. The new data also show that the total energy from this extended phase of the solar flare peak sometimes has more energy than that of the initial event.
Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system's largest explosive events and are seen as bright areas on the sun. Their energy can reach Earth's atmosphere and affect operations of Earth-orbiting communication and navigation satellites.
"If we can get these new results into space weather prediction models, we should be able to more reliably forecast solar events and their effects on our communication and navigation systems on Earth," said CU-Boulder Senior Research Associate Tom Woods of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, who led the development of EVE. "It will take some time and effort, but it is important."
