‘Finger-Like Solar Flares’ Explained in New Study

A solar flare is a term that denotes sudden flashes of brightness, caused by high-energy radiation, on the sun's surface. (Goddard Space Flight Center/AP)

In January 1999, scientists observed mysterious motions within a solar flare. Unlike typical flares that showed bright energy erupting outwards from the Sun, this solar flare also displayed a downward flow of motion, as if material was falling back towards the Sun. Astronomers wondered what exactly they were seeing.

Now, in a study published Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Astronomy, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) offer a new explanation for the poorly understood downflows.