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A solar flare is a sudden, intense burst of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun's atmosphere, typically occurring in active regions around sunspots where powerful magnetic fields are present. These eruptions are driven by the rapid release of stored magnetic energy through a process called magnetic reconnection, which accelerates charged particles to near the speed of light and heats the surrounding plasma to over 10 million Kelvin. The emission spans the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, and often follows a three-phase pattern (precursor, impulsive, and gradual), though some flares exhibit a mysterious, unexplained extreme ultraviolet "late phase." While the intense X-ray and UV radiation is absorbed by Earth's ionosphere—temporarily disrupting short-wave radio communications—it does not reach the surface, and predicting these events remains an active area of research. The frequency of solar flares varies with the Sun's 11-year solar cycle, and they are frequently, though not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Notably, similar eruptions also occur on other stars, where they are referred to as stellar flares.