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Solar Orbiter Captures 'Magnetic Avalanche' Behind Major Solar Flare

A new peer-reviewed analysis uses high-cadence, multi-instrument Solar Orbiter data to identify a cascade of small reconnection events as the flare’s driving engine.

On Sept. 30, 2025, scientists captured the precursor phase of a solar flare, like the one pictured here in a 2014 image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, for the first time using four of the instruments on ESA’s Solar Orbiter. Credit: NASA/Goddard/SDO
Image

Overview

  • ESA’s Solar Orbiter recorded the event on September 30, 2024 during a close pass, with EUI resolving features a few hundred kilometers across at about two-second cadence.
  • High-resolution imaging showed rapidly appearing twisted magnetic strands that repeatedly broke and reconnected, building into a large eruption through a cascading sequence.
  • Simultaneous SPICE, STIX, and PHI observations mapped the flare from the corona to the photosphere and measured particles accelerated to roughly 40–50% of light speed.
  • The instruments documented fast-moving ribbon structures and sustained “plasma rain,” revealing how energy was deposited and persisted after the peak.
  • Researchers say the case strongly supports an avalanche model yet requires more events and higher-resolution X-ray imaging to test its generality, with ESA releasing footage of the flare.