Why do solar flares occur?
Question:
Answer:
Here are quite a few articles on what we know so far:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sol...
The short answer is that magnetic fluctuations create imbalances that allow sunspots to form and for flares to arc from the sun.
Astronomers aren't in total agreement on the causes of solar flares. The most widely accepted theory has to do with the sun's magnetic field. The sun isn't solid, but instead consists of super-heated plasma. This means that the sun doesn't rotate uniformly (36 days for one revolution at the poles, 25 days at the equator). Due to this uneven rotation, the sun's magnetic field is constantly being twisted and distorted, and under conditions where opposing magnetic fields contact sunspots and solar flares occur.
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