definitions

solar flare

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR solar flare ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Astronomy.

flare(def 22).

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RELATED WORDS

corona, tongue, facula

Nearby words

solar cycle, solar day, solar eclipse, solar elastosis, solar energy, solar flare, solar furnace, solar ganglion, solar heating, solar house, solar mass

Origin of solar flare

First recorded in 1935–40
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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 earthSometimes shortened to: flare See also solar wind
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for solar flare

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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.