Sun Generates Winds and Flares

Through nuclear synthesis, the Sun produces about 386 billion mega Watts of energy when it changes hydrogen into helium. As it moves away from the core, this energy is continuously absorbed and re-emitted at energy levels and temperatures that are lower and lower until it reaches the surface, when some of it emerges as optical light. The energy from the Sun also powers the solar wind, which is a stream of energetic particles that is sometimes radiated as heat.

Numerous spacecraft have been damaged by this wind, which travels across the solar system at a speed of 450 km/sec (280 m/sec), and it has messed with radio and TV reception on Earth. Major power outages have also been brought on by the energetic particles that short circuit power grids by penetrating the insulation of high-tension cables and equipment. As Sun-spot activity is present, the Sun occasionally releases hundreds of millions of tons of material in the form of solar flares, which appear to "explode" when magnetic field lines in the Sun break through the surface.