Solar flares as a research area encompass the multidisciplinary investigation of rapid energy-release events in the solar atmosphere, focusing on their physical mechanisms, occurrence, energetics, and impacts. This field integrates solar magnetohydrodynamics, plasma physics, and high-energy astrophysics to study magnetic reconnection, particle acceleration, and radiation processes across the electromagnetic spectrum. Research emphasizes modeling flare initiation and evolution, analyzing observations from space- and ground-based instruments, and quantifying flare contributions to space weather, including effects on the heliosphere, planetary magnetospheres, and technological systems. The area also involves developing predictive frameworks and data-driven methods to assess flare likelihood based on solar magnetic field diagnostics.
Research led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has integrated three types of machine learning models to generate solar magnetic patches with physical properties and used those as a query to find matching patches in real ...
Astronomy
Apr 14, 2026
0
11
On August 19, 2022, solar astronomers using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on the Hawaiian island of Maui caught the fading remnants of a C-class solar flare. Their observations showed something unusual: very ...
Astronomy
Apr 12, 2026
0
73
During the Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, NASA will test out a pair of new solar radiation forecasts, developed at University of Michigan Engineering, designed to protect astronauts venturing away from Earth. The ...
Space Exploration
Apr 2, 2026
0
41
Every mission to deep space is fraught with danger. A hardware failure during launch, an equipment malfunction far from Earth, or a small space rock hitting the vehicle are all scenarios astronauts will train for.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 1, 2026
0
14
With NASA preparing for the Artemis II launch (expected tomorrow, 1 April), a strong solar flare earlier this week is putting space weather back into focus—and highlighting the unpredictable risks astronauts could face beyond ...
Space Exploration
Mar 31, 2026
0
21
As four astronauts travel around the moon on NASA's Artemis II mission, they will venture beyond Earth's protective magnetic field. The crew's spacecraft, Orion, will carry and protect them as they journey into deep space ...
Space Exploration
Mar 16, 2026
0
85
Patches of the sun's surface often show strong magnetic fields. These fields can emerge within a matter of hours, and can decay slowly or quickly, sometimes over days, weeks, or even months. Thanks to a new study about these ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2026
0
24
A team of scientists from around the world has created the first system that can predict when and where extremely powerful solar storms, called superflares, are most likely to happen. These storms can disrupt power grids, ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2026
0
66
New research by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF-NCAR) has developed a new tool providing a first step toward the ability to forecast ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 19, 2026
0
40
This Feb. 4, 2026, image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captures a strong solar flare erupting from the star. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can, along with other types of solar eruptions, impact ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2026
0
54
