Solar Flares

& Their Effects on Our World

By Rachel Kelsch
GEOG 1000

What is a solar flare?

NASA defines a solar flare as
a sudden, rapid, and intense
variation in brightness

Occurs when magnetic energy

that has built up in the solar
atmosphere is suddenly
released (NASA, source #3)
Emits radiation across almost the
whole electromagnetic spectrum (NASA,3)
Picture Credit: NASA
Accessed 12/1/14

What do solar flares look like?

Solar flares usually look like long filaments bursting outward from the
surface of the sun

Both images found here. Accessed 12/1/14

What causes solar flares?

Since we arent able to observe the sun very closely or conduct
experiments on it, the exact cause of solar flares is unknown.

One hypothesis is that the frequency and size of solar flares

relates closely to the number of sun spots currently on the sun.
(13)
This correlation comes from the idea that solar flares are the
release of energy that is caused by sun spots. (17)

Brief explanation of sun spots

Sun spots are not fully understood either
Are darker, colder spots on the sun (3,800 degrees Kelvin versus
5,800 degrees Kelvin) (17)

Are caused by interactions with the suns magnetic field (17)

Thought to occur over regions of intense magnetic activity (17)
Like a cap on a shaken soda bottle

The number of visible sunspots increases and decreases with the

suns 11-year cycle (17)

Sun spots

This chart shows the number of

sunspots from the previous twenty
years as well as predictions for the
number of sunspots that scientists
predict to see in the next five years
We are here
in the cycle
Image found here. Accessed 12/1/14

Sun cycle

This is an
approximate
representation of
what the stages of
the suns 11-year
cycle look like

Photo credit: NASA

Image found here
Accessed 12/1/14

Sun spots
Dark spots are sun spots
Sun spots are covering regions of intense
magnetic activity (17)
More sunspots occur during the peak of
the suns cycle (17)

Photo from NASA. Found here. Accessed 12/1/14

The power of solar flares

Solar flares are much hotter than the surface of the sun
Outer-sun temperatures are usually a few million degrees Kelvin, but the gas
released during solar flares usually falls between 10 to 20 million degrees Kelvin,
and can reach up to 100 million degrees Kelvin in large solar flares (16)

Not only are solar flares very hot, they also release enormous amounts
of energy
Energy released from solar flares is usually around 10^27 to 10^32 ergs of energy
This amount of energy can be compared to volcanic or hydrogen bomb explosions:
Solar flares are millions of times more powerful than either of these devastating
explosions (16)

The power of solar flares

The fact that solar flares are millions of times more powerful than
volcano explosions shouldnt be too surprising since about 1.3
million earths could fit inside the sun (16)
To the right is a
depiction of the
size of earth in
comparison to the
sun and a solar flare.
Picture credit unknown
Images found here and
here.
Accessed 12/1/14
Length of solar flare (Photo by NASA)

How do solar flares affect earth and humans?

The radiation emitting from solar flares has the potential to
damage astronauts or equipment in space (3)
The earths atmosphere protects us from most of the radiation (3)

Can affect some radio communication (3)

Can affect GPS precision (3)
Ultraviolet radiation can heat the earths outer atmosphere (3)
According to NASA, this heating of the earths atmosphere causes
it to expand and causes earth-orbiting satellites to drag, which
reduces their lifetime (3)

Solar flares effect on earth

Photo from BBC article- credit unknown

Images found here
Accessed 12/1/14

Photo credit:
NASA
Image found here
Accessed 12/1/14

Examples of solar flare damage

On the morning of September 1, 1859, a solar astronomer named Richard
Carrington was observing the sun and witnessed the greatest recorded
solar flare. It was so large that he could actually see the bright
protrusions coming from the sun, which is not common. (18)

Not only was the sight of the solar flare itself amazing, but what
happened the next day as an aftermath was also powerful.
Before dawn the next day, auroras of many different colors were visible
in the sky and produced so much light that it was possible to read the
newspaper outside as one would in broad daylight. (18)
The telegraph system also starting going haywire so much so that
telegraph operators got shocked and telegraph paper caught on fire! (18)

Examples of solar flare damage

There have been other solar flares since the major one in 1859,
and some of these have caused some significant damage. (18)
August 4, 1972: huge solar flare knocked out telephone
communications in Illinois (18)
March 13, 1989: Interrupted electric power transmissions in
Quebec, Canada, leaving millions of people without power for
many hours (18)
December 2005: x-rays disrupted GPS signals for about 10 minutes
(this is potentially very dangerous because of airplanes, etc.) (18)

Solar flare damage

Solar flare damage at

A nuclear power plant
In Salem, New Jersey
1989.

Credit: NASA
Images found here
Accessed 12/1/14

Are there any positives of solar flares?

There are not any truly known benefits of these solar flares,
besides the sun releasing its built-up magnetic energy
One side effect of solar flares that could be considered positive is
the fact that often after a solar flare or solar storm, we are able
to see the aurora borealis in places that it wouldnt usually be
visible
This is possible when charged solar material (high energy protons)
is colliding with the earths ionosphere (19)

Visibility of aurora borealis

In September of 2014, we had a very large solar flare that caused
the northern lights to be visible in other places that are usually
not able to see the lights.
Utah was included in the area of visibility, although the lights
were very faint, so they werent very visible unless you got away
from the city lights.
A diagram of estimated
visibility for aurora viewing

Image found here. Accessed 12/1/14

Northern lights
In September 2014, Noel Chenier from the east coast of Canada
(above Maine) was preparing to take photographs of a meteor
shower, when he was suddenly able to see the northern lights,
which is uncommon in his area. (21)
He quickly changed his plans to take photographs of the northern
lights instead of a meteor shower. See next slide for some of his
photographs. (21)

Northern Lights in Eastern Canada

Photo credit: Noel Chenier

Images found here
Accessed 12/1/14

Conclusion
Solar flares are just one of the many phenomena that is caused by
our sun
Other phenomenon have the potential to be much more powerful
and dangerous
Although solar flares affect us, there is not much we can do to
prevent those affects, unless we change the way that we power
and run our electronics
At least we get the privilege of seeing more of the northern lights
because of some of the more powerful solar flares

Sources
1. http://noelchenier.blogspot.ca/2013/10/i-went-to-photographsome-meteors-and.html
2. http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/northernlights-viewing-condit/33834457
3. http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/spaceweather.htm
4. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2198626/Thebreathtaking-new-images-violence-solar-flare--aurora-createdearth.html
5. http://swapsushias.blogspot.com/2013/08/solar-flaresgeography.html#.VH5_ijHF9yU
6. http://www.cnet.com/pictures/a-solar-flare-of-cosmic-scalepictures

Sources
7. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/
8. http://mysolaralerts.blogspot.com/p/how-do-solar-flaresaffect-people-and.html
9. http://www.almanac.com/sunspotupdate
10.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3242353.stm
11.http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/spaceweather.htm
12.http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/sunbrightness.html

Sources
13.http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/flares.html
14.http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/frame1.htm
15.http://www.space.com/11506-space-weather-sunspots-solarflares-coronal-mass-ejections.html
16.http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/flare.htm
17.http://www.space.com/14736-sunspots-sun-spotsexplained.html
18. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/
19. http://www.epa.gov/radtown/solar-activity.html