Fast Facts for Kids
Solar Flare Facts for Kids

Solar Flare Facts for Kids

  • Common Name: Solar Flare
  • Description: Eruption of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun
  • Cause: Stored magnetic energy accelerating charged particles in the Sun
  • Classification System: Soft X-Ray
  • Classification Ratings: A, B, C, M, and X
  • Monitoring Body: The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  • Largest Solar Flare Event: The Carrington Event of 1859

17 Solar Flare Facts For Kids

  1. A solar flare is a localized extreme eruption of electromagnetic radiation from the atmosphere of our Sun.
  2. A solar flare that occurs on a star other than our Sun is called a stellar flare.
  3. A solar flare can also be followed by a coronal mass ejection (CME) or solar particle event (SPE).
  4. English astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson separately observed the first solar flare on September 1st, 1859.
  5. The frequency of solar flares depends on where the Sun is during its 11-year solar cycle.
  6. During the solar maximum, there is a solar flare once per week.
  7. During the solar minimum, there can be multiple solar flares a day.
  8. The duration of a solar flare can be as short as 10 seconds or last several hours.
  9. Solare flares are classified by strength using a letter system: A, B, C, M, and X, with A being the weakest and X being the strongest.
  10. Each solar flare classification is a 10-fold increase in energy output (strength).
  11. An X-class solar flare is 10 times strong than a M-class and 100,000 times stronger than an A-class.
  12. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tracks solar flares and will issue forecasts on any solar flare that is an M or X class.
  13. Solar flares and their accompanied solar phenomena can and do hit Earth and cause an enormous amount of damage.
  14. The strongest geomagnetic storm to affect the Earth’s magnetosphere in recorded history was the Carrington Event.
  15. The Carrington Event was an extreme geomagnetic storm that occurred between September 1st and the 2nd in 1859.
  16. The Carrington Event caused damage to telegraph equipment all over the word. There were even reports of telegraph machines working without batteries.
  17. If a geomagnetic storm like the Carrington Event was to happen today, it would cause between $670 million and $2.9 trillion dollars in damage (USD, 2020).

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Solar Flare Pictures

Pictures are one of the best ways for people to learning about something. That is why we are providing you with the below images to help you with your research on solar flares. Below you will find three pictures that represent solar flares. These pictures should help you better understand solar flares and what they look like.

Solar Flare Hitting The Planet Earth

A picture of a solar flare hitting the planet Earth.

Solar Flare From The Sun

A picture of a solar flare from the sun.

Satellite Monitoring Solar Flares

A picture of a satellite monitoring solar flares.

Solar Flare Resources

Hopefully the above solar flare facts, data, stats, and pictures were helpful with your research. If you need to continue researching solar flares you can use one of the below websites. We selected the below websites for their credibility and accurate data on solar flares.