Comment on “Sun unleashes Halloween storm” by R.E. Lopez et al.] Large solar flares and sheared magnetic field configuration

Abstract

This comment gives additional information about the nature of flaring locations on the Sun described in the article “Sun unleases Halloween storm” (Eos, 85(11), 16 March 2004), by R. E. Lopez, et al.What causes the large explosions from solar active regions that unleash huge magnetic storms and adverse space weather? It is now beyond doubt that the magnetic field in solar active regions harbors free energy that is released during these events. Direct measurements of the longitudinal and transverse components of active region magnetic fields with the vector magnetograph at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), taken on a regular basis for the last 30 years, have found key signatures of the locations of powerful flares.