are flares dangerous?

High-energy particles from flares move so fast that they escape from the Sun out into space. They can hit any satellites, astronauts or spacecraft that are outside the safety of the Earth's magnetic shield and its atmosphere

It's important to be able to warn astronauts when a solar flare is happening so they can move to a part of their spaceship where they are best protected against the radiation. That’s another good reason to study and to try and understand solar flares.

The only other dangerous flares are the GROOVY flares of the 1970s. Dangerous as fashion accessories, maybe, but nothing else!

So how come we don't suffer from solar flares here on Earth?

The Earth is shielded by its atmosphere and magnetic field, which protect us from the X-rays and particles by absorbing them or deflecting them around the Earth. More information on this is in our 'Sun-Earth Connection/Space Weather' section.

The Earth’s magnetic field shields us from most of the particles, but some still get through and their effect becomes visible when they swoop down onto the atmosphere near the poles. Here they can often produce a spectacular natural fireworks display called the aurora. So there is a plus side to dangerous flares.

This is a picture of the aurora borealis taken by Dr. Sally Ride from the Space Shuttle

(credit: San Diego Space Physics Center)