Is there a known theoretical maximum size for a solar flare and would it mean curtains for life on Earth?
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$\begingroup$ livescience.com/carrington-event is relevant also this tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/… $\endgroup$– anna vCommented Dec 21, 2022 at 12:00
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$\begingroup$ Related: physics.stackexchange.com/q/258074/59023 and physics.stackexchange.com/q/232199/59023 $\endgroup$– honeste_vivereCommented Dec 23, 2022 at 14:22
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$\begingroup$ What do you mean by "size" - can you specify which quantities you are interested in the size of? $\endgroup$– ProfRobCommented Dec 23, 2022 at 15:26
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$\begingroup$ Livescvience.com says that The Carrington event of 1859 had the energy of 10 billion 1 megaton atomic bombs. And the Kepler Telescope found that on other stars these solar flares can be 100 times more energetic. A telegraph operator in 1859 had electricity coming out of his head ! I hope modern heart pacemakers can cope with another eruption on this scale. $\endgroup$– user353451Commented Dec 23, 2022 at 16:27
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$\begingroup$ Prof Rob I was after the distance scale which has been answered below as 500,000 km or nearly four times the diameter of Jupiter. But the energy scale of 10 billion megatons and more is incredible. $\endgroup$– user353451Commented Dec 23, 2022 at 16:31
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1 Answer
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About 500,000 km
Solar flares can and do get extremely large at times. The largest can be about 500,000 km across. For comparison, Jupiter is about 140,000 km in diameter. So, solar flares can get more than 3x as large as Jupiter at their maximum size.
However, solar flares cannot boil our oceans away. Solar flares consist of positively charged hydrogen ions (protons) that carry a magnetic field along with them. This means that our Earth's own magnetic field deflects these flares, much like how it deals with solar winds.
However, do not be fooled. Although solar flares cannot boil our oceans or strip the atmosphere away, they can cause a host of other problems. The Earth's magnetic field doesn't actually repel the flares away, it instead funnels the flares down to the poles where it excites the ions and molecules in the atmosphere to form auroras. This means that the poles are exposed to dangerously high radiation levels during a flare. Flares can also tamper with our electrical grids, GPS and radio systems.
TL;DR. Solar flares can get half a million kilometres across, but they cannot boil our oceans away, no matter how large.
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2$\begingroup$ "Solar flares can get half a million kilometres across, but they cannot boil our oceans away, no matter how large". Which is doubtless one reason why life has existed on Earth so long. $\endgroup$– user353451Commented Dec 23, 2022 at 16:18