Scientists Spot a Solar Flare With Surprising Spectral Behavior
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On August 19, 2022, astronomers using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on the Hawaiian island of Maui caught the fading remnants of a C-class solar flare. Their observations showed something unusual: very strong spectral fingerprints of calcium II H and hydrogen-epsilon lines. It was the first time these two light signatures were seen in great detail during a flare. According to computer models, those lines were stronger than expected and play a not well-understood role in how flares
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Scientists Spot a Solar Flare With Surprising Spectral Behavior By Carolyn Collins Petersen - April 10, 2026 12:19 AM UTC | Stars On August 19, 2022, solar astronomers using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on the Hawaiian island of Maui caught the fading remnants of a C-class solar flare. Their observations showed something unusual: very strong spectral fingerprints of calcium II H and hydrogen-epsilon lines. It was the first time these two light signatures were seen in great detail during the decline of a solar flare. According to computer models, those lines were stronger than expected and play a not well-understood role in how flares heat the solar atmosphere where they occur. The same models can be used to study flares in other stars, as well. Spectra are produced when the light from an object, in this case, the Sun, passes through a specialized instrument that breaks the light into its component wavelengths. The light can be emitted, absorbed, or reflected. Solar flares always provide interesting spectral lines, and this one was no different. In the case of the flare on August 19th, light was emitted by energized molecules of calcium II H and hydrogen-epsilon. These two are close together in the solar spectrum and provide a window into what's happening in the solar chromosphere. That's the complex layer of the solar atmosphere between the visible surface and corona (outer atmosphere). These absorption lines indicate ionized calcium in the atmosphere, and are clues to chromospheric activity and the strength of magnetic fields in the regions where they exist. A visible image of the Sun on August 19, 2022, showing sunspots and their active regions, including 3078 where the DKIST observed unusual spectral lines. Courtesy CESAR Helios Observatory. It hasn't always been easy to study these spectral lines in solar flares from Earth, usually due to constraints on telescope time and instrumentation. The DKIST was able to capture these thanks to its high-resolution ...
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