A solar flare is in it's essence a giant explosion on the surface of our Sun which occur mostly near sunspots. It is defined as a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness. A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Material is heated to many millions of degrees in just minutes and radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to X-rays and gamma rays at the short wavelength end. The amount of energy released is equivalent to millions of nuclear bombs exploding all at the same time! Solar flares occur most when the Sun is active in the years around solar maximum. Many solar flares can occur on just one day during this period! Around solar minimum, solar flares might occur less than once per week. Large flares are less frequent than smaller ones