solar flare

noun, Astronomy

flare (def 21).

Origin

1935-40

Examples from the web for solar flare

There hasn't been a significant solar flare in the last two years.
And sometimes a micro meteor shower or solar flare activity wrecks havoc on delicate electronics and effect operations for years.
And yet, the flame itself was merely a kind of solar flare in some other galaxy.

British Dictionary definitions for solar flare

solar flare

noun

a brief powerful eruption of particles and intense electromagnetic radiation from the sun's surface, associated with sunspots and causing disturbances to radio communication on earth Sometimes shortened to flare See also solar wind

solar flare in Science

solar flare
A sudden eruption of hydrogen gas in the chromosphere of the Sun, usually associated with sunspots. Solar flares may last between several hours and several days, and have temperatures ranging from 20 to 100 million degrees K. The energy of a solar flare, which consists primarily of charged particles and x-rays, is comparable to tens of millions of hydrogen bombs, but is less than one-tenth the total energy emitted by the Sun every second. First observed in 1859, solar flares dramatically affect the Sun's weather and the solar wind, and are correlated with the appearance of auroras on the Earth. See also prominence.