Particles within solar flares may reach temperatures more than six times higher than scientists previously believed—offering an explanation to a long-standing astrophysical puzzle about the Sun.

This is the conclusion of researchers from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, who found that the positively charged ions in solar flares—one of the two key components of solar plasma—can be heated to over 60 million degrees Celsius.

The findings challenge prior assumptions in solar physics and suggest that ions are heated far more intensely than electrons during solar flares.

What Are Solar Flares?

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy from the Sun's magnetic field and a regular feature of solar activity.

Understanding these phenomena is important because strong flares can cause

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