Scientists are getting closer to understanding the sun’s ‘campfire’ flares

Magnetic cancellation is thought to underpin the diminutive solar phenomenon

A false-color image of the sun in ultraviolet light showing flares and eruptions breaking from its surface

This false-color ultraviolet image of the sun is one of many from the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter probe that is helping researchers unravel the mystery of tiny “campfire” flares, diminutive outbursts on the solar surface.

EUI Team/Solar Orbiter/ESA and NASA, CSL, IAS, MPS, WRC/PMOD, ROB, MSSL/UCL

DALLAS — Scientists are starting to figure out what causes tiny eruptions on the sun called campfire flares.