The sun...

...is probably much more potent than we have realized up to about now. IT hasn't been until very recently, that scientists have discovered an intriguing aspect of our sun, that being that the sun has the ability to release what are known as "superflares". In fact, in a recent release of the astronomy magazine, Sky and Telescope, this subject is mentioned with some significant detail. Scientific research conducted from around the world has in fact shown, that, the major surges of radiation on Earth in the past could probably not have been caused by celestial objects. These would otherwise include stars which are going through what is known as their "quasar" stage, in which they have gained an incredibly huge amount of mass. (These kinds of stars have been thought to mostly exist only in the relatively early universe, however, whose light is still making its way across our universe, and may very well impact our solar system).
Now, such solar flares definitely pack a punch. So, what exactly do they do with .
So, here is some more (and very recent) information which you can find about this phenomenon of solar flares, specifically the ones that can actually deliver a really good "umph" whenever they slam violently into the Earth's atmosphere: How powerful are "megaflares?"
Now, for the record... and yes, there have been some significant and solar events in recorded history since people have been able to monitor the sun with specialized solar telescopes. As I've written before, one of those events, that has occurred in the 18th century, was caused by a major sunspot. In fact, this was the largest sunspot ever to be seen since. And some time later, after this sunspot formed, an enormous amount of energy slammed into the Earth. This energy was in the form of a CME, also known as a Coronal Mass Ejection. This one in particular had enough energy to cause the power grid to be disrupted. Power lines buckled and failed. The Northern Lights, or Aurora, were seen as far away from the magnetic poles as the Bahamas. The name for this particular flare was the Carrington Flare. This was after the astronomer, who was known for his name as Carrington, had discovered the large sunspot. Interestingly enough, before the sunspot had became visible on the solar surface, there was an interesting solar phenomenon that started happening... during which the sun went through a relatively calm period of solar activity. During this period, the sun became empty of sunspots. And it is theorized that this is the exact phenomenon that has led to the appearance of a major sunspot, and consequently, to the major flare that followed. Why? Well, the most suggests that while solar activity starts dwindling and flatlines, then that doesn't exactly mean that the sun's energy is becoming depleted. It just means that the sun is effectively storing it's own solar energy, and it's just a matter of time until that built up energy is released again, and as is documented, can sometimes cause undesirable consequences on our own planet. For each dose of radiation that comes from the sun, the Earth always reacts to this energy in some way. This phenomenon is known as ionization. And this is how the Earth is able to absorb much, or all, of this energy. After a solar maximum, the Earth's atmosphere will now be thicker, as opposed to the period of time following a solar minimum, during which the atmosphere is left thinner. This can be a disadvantage to all of us here on Earth because we will then receive higher levels of radiation. Because without a specific amount of radiation to ionize the atmosphere, this will then leave our own atmosphere vulnerable to solar events, since it might be significantly thinner now. And during such circumstances, the Earth can be left stripped of it's own atmosphere. Or at least, partially stripped of its atmosphere. And what's to say about the effects that such an event would be able to on other planets. How about Mars? Would we be able to survive on such a planet? After all, Mar's atmosphere is being stripped away. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have it's own spin.
The solar wind, can be very densely packed with energized particles. Anyways, the other feature that makes solar wind potent is the fact that is has the ability to travel at breakneck speeds. In 2004, the solar wind, propelled by CME, has impacted into Earth. This CME has been clocked to be travelling at a whopping one third of the speed of light! So, the question that remains is this: "If a superflare were approaching the Earth, how fast would it be travelling? And... would a speed such as the one attained by the 2004 event have any influence on the flare's potency?