Video: Beautiful Solar Eruption Seen in Extreme Ultraviolet
- 1:40 pm |
NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this gorgeous video of a recent outburst from the sun’s surface in ultraviolet light.
Despite a relatively quiet time of solar activity, chaotic magnetic field lines have been cracking all around the sun for the past few days. One of these produced a modest solar flare during the late hours of Apr. 7.
The flare generated a coronal mass ejection, a massive cloud of charged particles hurled out into space. Depending on its size, such a mass can produce anything from a mild Northern Lights display to harmful electronic systems damage when it hits the Earth’s atmosphere.
Models suggest that this particular ejection will miss the Earth but will impact the planet Mercury on Apr. 9. Because Mercury’s magnetic field is only 10 percent that of Earth’s, the charged particles will rain down on the tiny planet’s surface, scouring it and adding material to its thin, comet-like tail.
Video: Solar Dynamics Observatory