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Credit & Copyright: Stöphane Poirier
Explanation:
Why, sometimes, does part of the Sun's atmosphere leap into space?
The reason lies in changing
magnetic fields that thread through the
Sun's surface.
Regions of strong surface magnetism, known as
active regions, are usually marked by dark
sunspots.
Active regions can channel charged gas along arching
or sweeping magnetic fields -- gas that sometimes
falls back,
sometimes escapes,
and sometimes not only escapes but
impacts our Earth.
The featured one-hour time-lapse video -- taken with a
small telescope in
France --
captured an eruptive filament that appeared to leap off the Sun late last month.
The filament is huge: for comparison,
the size of the Earth is shown on the upper left.
Just after the
filament lifted off, the
Sun
emitted a powerful X-class flare
while the surface rumbled with a tremendous
solar tsunami.
A result was a cloud of charged particles that rushed into
our Solar System but mostly
missed
our Earth -- this time.
However, enough solar plasma did impact our
Earth's magnetosphere
to create a few
faint auroras.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Sun
Publications with words: Sun
See also:
- APOD: 2024 February 19 Á Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe
- Circling the Sun
- APOD: 2023 December 11 Á Solar Minimum versus Solar Maximum
- APOD: 2023 November 19 Á Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun
- APOD: 2023 October 25 Á Gone in 60 Seconds: A Green Flash Sunset
- Circular Sun Halo
- APOD: 2023 August 1 Á Monster Solar Prominence