Our sun can seem deceptively peaceful from Earth, but only because we have the luxury of living 150 million kilometers away. Up close, it's a nuclear-fuelled carnival ride of terror, launching countless tiny particles at speed far into interplanetary space.

"The Sun is the most energetic particle accelerator in the Solar System," writes a team of researchers behind a study on the energetic particles that stream forth in solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

According to the study's lead author Alexander Warmuth, each of those events delivers streams of particles with very distinct features hinting at a different birthplace and backstory.

"We see a clear split between 'impulsive' particle events, where these energetic electrons speed off the Sun's surface in bursts via solar

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