Our sun often emits **solar flares**—powerful bursts of light and radiation from its surface—into the vast expanses of **space**. However, what about the significantly stronger **superflares**?
Superflares are thousands of times more intense than ordinary solar flares and can potentially interfere with electrical grids and communication networks on Earth. To gain a clearer picture of how often such occurrences may happen on our sun, astronomers performed an extensive survey of 56,000 stars that share similarities with our own. Their findings were nothing short of remarkable.
“Stars akin to our sun produce superflares once every century, which is 30 to 60 times more often than we previously believed,” stated Valeriy Vasilyev, a researcher specializing in stellar activity at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, during an interview with *Mashable*. Vasilyev, a co-author of the research published in the journal *Science*, expressed, “We were taken aback by the frequency.”
### An Unexpected Revelation
Earlier studies had calculated that sun-like stars emitted superflares only once every 3,000 to 6,000 years. To refine this estimation, astronomers utilized data gathered by NASA’s now-retired **Kepler Space Telescope**, which was intended to monitor stellar brightness while searching for planets around distant stars. By examining four years’ worth of Kepler data, researchers identified 56,450 stars with sun-like characteristics and observed superflares on 2,527 of them. These events were marked by a rapid rise in brightness followed by a slow decay, enabling scientists to gauge how frequently such stars release superflares.
The energies emitted by these remote stars ranged from 10³⁴ to 10³⁶ ergs (a unit of energy), significantly surpassing any flare recorded from our sun. To contextualize, a single superflare possesses the energy equivalent of roughly 1 trillion hydrogen bombs. “We discovered extraordinary flaring stars,” Vasilyev noted.
### The Mechanism Behind Solar Flares
Solar flares arise when the sun’s magnetic fields become contorted and ensnared, ultimately snapping and discharging vast amounts of energy. As explained by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, “Like a rubber band that breaks when twisted too much, tangled magnetic fields release energy when they snap.” The energy from a solar flare exceeds a million times that of a volcanic eruption on Earth.
When these flares explode on the side of the sun facing Earth, they may create significant repercussions, especially if coupled with **coronal mass ejections (CMEs)**—massive bursts of superheated gas that propel portions of the sun into space. A notable instance happened in 1989 when a CME related to a powerful solar flare led to a blackout in Québec, Canada. This event incapacitated the area’s power grid in less than two minutes, leaving millions without electricity for 12 hours and damaging a $10 million transformer at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey.
### Earth’s Protection and the Superflare Risk
Thankfully, Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere shield us from the hazardous radiation emitted by solar flares. Nevertheless, the recent research indicates that a superflare—significantly more powerful than the 1989 incident—could have catastrophic effects on contemporary technology. While it’s uncertain if our sun shares the same characteristics as the distant stars examined in the study, the insights emphasize the necessity of preparing for possible consequences.
Superflares could also jeopardize planets that orbit other stars, known as **exoplanets**. Vasilyev speculates that planets with lighter atmospheres than Earth’s might be particularly susceptible to the intense radiation generated by superflares.
### A Mixed Blessing
Despite their potentially destructive nature, superflares may not be wholly detrimental. In fact, they might be instrumental in the evolution of life. Scientists propose that the energy released from superflares could facilitate the chemical reactions vital for creating the building blocks of life. It’s conceivable that, in Earth’s ancient history, one or more superflares contributed to life’s emergence on our planet.
While the possibility of our sun producing a superflare remains uncertain, this groundbreaking research illuminates the behavior of sun-like stars and the possible risks—and advantages—associated with these remarkable cosmic phenomena.