Something new on the sun: SDO spots a late phase in solar flares
Thursday, September 8, 2011 - 09:31
in Astronomy & Space
Analysis of 191 solar flares since May 2010 by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has recently shown a new piece in the pattern: some 15 percent of the flares have a distinct "late phase flare" some minutes to hours later that has never before been fully observed. This late phase of the flare pumps much more energy out into space than previously realized.