Solar Orbiter captured the most detailed view of a solar flare, observing the build-up of events that lead to the explosion.

Earth faced its most violent solar assault of 2026 when an X-class flare erupted from the sun's surface on January 18, ...

Just as avalanches on snowy mountains start with the movement of a small quantity of snow, the ESA-led Solar Orbiter ...

F or all of its life-sustaining energy, the sun is pretty chaotic. Roiling plasma covers its surface along with fluidic snarls of magnetic fields that birth solar flares. These fiery outbursts occur ...

Solar flares have an enormous impact on the wider Solar System. These sudden releases of energy can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth and radio blackouts too, like the one that's happened in the last ...

By tracing solar flare gamma rays, scientists gain new insight into particle behavior that shapes space weather forecasts.

Solar Orbiter has captured the clearest evidence yet that a solar flare grows through a cascading “magnetic avalanche.” Small, weak magnetic disturbances rapidly multiplied, triggering stronger and ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: ESA and NASA/Solar Orbiter/Metis & EUI Teams, V. Andretta and P. Romano/INAF A twisting, ...

Solar prominences occur when the sun’s plasma, flowing along the magnetic field lines that the sun creates, forms a loop into space along the edge of the sun’s disk. When a prominence becomes ...

In principle, cosmic-ray observations can provide detailed insights into the physical profile of a passing ICME. But despite ...

The sun is governed by a strict rhythm. The magnetic activity of the sun displays a cyclic variation, reaching a maximum approximately every eleven years. Two enormous plasma circulations, each in one ...

Did you know it rains on the Sun? Not water, of course. It's solar rain, which occurs in the Sun's corona, the outermost layer composed of intensely hot plasma. This phenomenon involves cooler, ...