This is what I'm picturing:

He nuclei & protons pass through the cloud of electrons at a very high speed. Initially, the He nuclei exert a greater force on the electrons, so you get a 2:1 ratio of He(1-) to H(0). However, the instant that any He(1-) is created, it begins acting like a proton, so you would think that the first few He(1-) to form (molecules on the leading edge of the ion cloud) would still have a good number of electrons to pick from to make it to He(0), as they passed through the cloud of electrons.

Actually, come to think of it there might still be an answer. I'm picturing the two clouds of opposing ions as sort of oblong shapes, flowing into and through each other head on, as they should be traveling in anti-parallel directions (as the E field pushes one in a given direction and pulls the other in the opposite direction). However, if the electron could was wide but only a few atoms thick, the He (1-) wouldn't have a chance to become neutral, because grabbing just one electron would mean that it was already through the cloud…

ok, so now THIS is what I'm picturing:

a sort of plane of electrons only a few electrons thick, tangent to the surface of the sun (though high above it). The oblong cloud of electrons flow through it along the normal vector (though I guess it wouldn't have to be perfectly orthogonal… the deviation from 90 degrees would depend on exactly how thick the cloud was). So, He(2+) ions fly through, but can only grab one electron because of the thinness of the field. Protons, on the other hand, become neutral hydrogen molecules and continue on their resent course. Also, hopefully the electrons wouldn't become exhausted as the positive ion cloud passed through, as repulsion between electrons would fill the gap.

I don't know much about solar physics, so I don't know if this is likely or even possible, but maybe it's an explanation?

And sorry for taking so much space up… I apparently lack focus

This is a wild shot in the dark, but…

1. During the flare, both hydrogen and helium are stripped of the electrons
2. The chance for a proton to recapture 1 electron is much larger than the chance that the helium nuclei will recapture 2 electrons, and as long as the atoms are inonized they are slowed by the magnetic feld.
3. As soon as the atom is neutralised, it moves freely of the magnetic field, separating out the hydrogen faster than the helium.

This can only be true if the subsequent flood of charged particles include both hydrogen and helium, wich the article doesnt mention.

I know that STEREO has only been up there since 2006, but haven't there been other instruments available to do this kind of work before now?

And then one last thing, but if there are enough electrons hanging to be captured by passing protons to form noticeable amounts of hydrogen, and if helium nuclei are present in the plasma, wouldn't we see at least some neutral helium?

I know that it would be significantly less, as it would have to capture two electrons rather than one. Maybe the intense plasma conditions favor full ionization (if that's the right word) and reduce everything down into protons rather than nuclei, or maybe the radiative recombination/charge exchange process is more complex than just a positive thing grabbing a negative thing as it shoots by, and this added complexity prevents neutral He from forming. I have no idea.

Either way, thanks in advance for the answers, and hooray science.

Spaceship with a Big scoop. Seems that where there is a sun you have all the fuel you need.

But do you?

I wonder if the concentrations of hydrogen released could be harvested?

Hypothetically, given a Plasma Engine like VASIMR, potentially powered by a nuclear reactor like the one being looked at in the Prometheus project. That uses Hydrogen or helium as fuel.

I'm wondering if you could use such outbursts as a source of fuel.?

Sooooo… . . anyone wanna talk physics? I have a pile of solar physics counter arguments under my desk, ready to be unleashed. However, I had no counter argument for the strange comment left by the guy at the back of the class…

Ho hum

A sentence formed neither to educate nor to discuss, and certainly made to provoke – hence, a Troll.

It would be nice if the site admins would take action on messages like yours — they simply disrupt the topics you post them in. (Psst admins, you can delete this one along with his).