A Huge Solar Filament Erupts
Click the arrow and watch an unusually long filament explode out from the Sun.
The
filament had been seen hovering over the
Sun's surface for over a week before it erupted earlier this month.
The
image sequence
was taken by the Earth-orbiting
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in one color of
ultraviolet light specifically emitted by helium, and
another color of X-ray light specifically emitted by iron.
The explosion created
Coronal
Mass Ejections which dispersed high energy plasma into the Solar System.
This plasma cloud, though, missed the Earth and so did not cause auroras.
The above eruption
and an unusually
expansive eruption that occurred in August are showing how widely separated areas of the
Sun can sometimes act in unison.
Explosions like this will likely become more common over the next few years as our Sun moves toward
Solar Maximum activity.