This isn't actually a case of an author being an idiot (well, maybe...), but rather based on an actual phenomenon of our sun called coronal mass ejections:Wrong. There is only one actual example of an Imperium starship being damaged by solar phenomena, which is at best bizarre; from Salamander, a "solar storm" damaging the strike cruiser Vulkan's Wrath. The reason I call it unusual, is because Vulkan's Wrath (having just emerged from the Warp) is umpteen million miles away from the Scoria system's star, and still getting hit by shockwaves shaking it "like a skiff upon a violent ocean" (pg. 181) and light intense enough to instantly inflict massive third-degree burns on any crewserfs standing in it and noticeably heat Mk. VII power armour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejections
Basically, it's a large burst of solar wind. It basically crosses the distance between Sol and Earth in three days (150 million km, 2.08 million km a second). So basically, what captain was refering to wasn't some sort of uber phenomenon, but rather something that is rather common as far as stars go.Coronal mass ejections release huge quantities of matter and electromagnetic radiation into space above the sun's surface, either near the corona or farther into the planet system or beyond (interplanetary CME). The ejected material is a plasma consisting primarily of electrons and protons, but may contain small quantities of heavier elements such as helium, oxygen, and even iron. It is associated with enormous changes and disturbances in the coronal magnetic field.
So, any idea what that would calculate into? I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough to know what sort of effects that would have.