Sun’s Flares Revealed as Magnetic Avalanches, Solar Orbiter Finds
TL;DR
ESA’s Solar Orbiter watched an avalanche of smaller magnetic disturbances cascade into a mid‑class solar flare, revealing how energy is released in the sun’s corona through a sequence of reconnection events. The multi‑instrument observations (EUI, SPICE, STIX, PHI) tracked rapid changes over about 40 minutes, with the findings published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. This work advances understanding of flare triggers and could improve forecasting of Earth‑impacting solar activity.
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