![]() ![]() Usually, the Earth’s atmosphere protects people from proton storms.Ī picture in the forest at night captures a green glow and a pink line that is the Aurora Borealis in Denali National Park. The light and x-rays from CMEs reach Earth’s atmosphere in about eight minutes. The charged particles from a proton storm interact with the atmosphere and cause spectacular changes to the atmosphere known as the aurora borealis or northern lights. These protons carry dangerous amounts of energy that can break chemical bonds. The explosion that creates the CME accelerates the protons around the Sun to nearly the speed of light. Protons are the positively charged particles from the nucleus of an atom. The most powerful solar flares are huge bursts of x-rays and electrified hot gas called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which hurl solar matter into space. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and Proton Storms While solar flares are massive explosions, you still need specialized equipment to see them on the surface of the Sun. They can last as little as a few minutes, or as long as a few hours. Solar flares look like bright flashes of light on the Sun. Solar FlaresĪ picture of the Sun from NASA’s Goddard Telescope shows a significant solar flare on the right-side edge of the Sun. Magnetic energy from solar flares can interrupt radio communication on Earth or damage communications satellites. These rays of ionizing radiation can damage satellites because they are in space and are not protected by the Earth’s atmosphere. The ionizing radiation released during solar flares includes x-rays and gamma rays. Solar flares are large eruptions of energy coming off the Sun containing several different forms of energy: heat, magnetic energy, and ionizing radiation. ![]() When sunspots interact with each other they cause explosions of energy. The magnetic fields that create sunspots prevent some of the Sun’s heat from reaching the surface of the Sun. They appear dark on the surface of the Sun, because they are cooler than the surrounding areas. These magnetic fields can become twisted, storing energy like a rubber band. Sunspots are very strong magnetic fields on the surface of the Sun. Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) In the orange and yellow circle, it has a few small black spots towards the lower center, which are an active region of sunspots-almost 80,000 miles across. ![]()
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