Why solar flares are way hotter than researchers thought

['Nell Greenfieldboyce', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] TPR: The Public's Radio 2025-09-05 11:00:00

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Solar Dynamics Observatory)Beautiful yet dangerous solar flares that erupt from the sun could be as hot as 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, researchers say. Solar flares occur when magnetic energy gets suddenly released and dumped into particles. Previously, researchers used telescopes to measure the temperature of electrons in solar flares. Russell and his colleagues did some calculations and found that solar flares could actually be over 100 million degrees Fahrenheit, and quite possibly hotter. He says until now, the difference between the two has been overlooked when it comes to solar flares.