Flares on the Sun
Energy releases called flares sometimes occur near sunspots.
Astronomers think that the energy comes from the magnetic fields.
A lot of energy is involved, so that the gas is locally heated to
millions of K. This blasts particles into space. When the particles
reach Earth they can disrupt the Earth's magnetosphere making
aurora and disrupting radio communication.
Here is an H-alpha picture of a
flare.
Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science,
University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA
soper@bovine.uoregon.edu