solar flares

On Dec. 14, a 2.8 magnitude X-class flare exploded from the sun, triggering radio blackouts on Earth and unleashing a CME that could also hit our planet in the next few days. It is the most powerful solar flare in more than six years.

A massive sunspot region made up of at least six different sunspot groups has emerged on the sun's nearside. The "archipelago" of dark patches is spitting out solar storms at an alarming rate and Earth will soon be in the firing line.

Two coronal mass ejections have combined into an enormous cloud of magnetized plasma that is forecast to hit Earth on Tuesday and potentially trigger a weak geomagnetic storm.

The enormous dark patch and its powerful eruption are both signs that the solar maximum is fast approaching — and could be more active than expected.

The sun is quickly approaching a major peak in solar activity. Experts warn it could potentially begin by the end of 2023, years before initial predictions suggested.

Researchers were able to replicate how solar flares form by creating banana-sized loops of plasma in a lab. The results show that the mini flares are an excellent proxy for studying the real things.

A massive solar tornado recently towered over the sun's north pole for three days. The plasma twister was created by a rapidly rotating magnetic field.

After studying an unusual solar eruption from 2017, researchers think they've pinpointed the likely origin of mysterious heartbeat-like signals emitted by the sun during solar flares.