APOD: A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO (2019 May 26)

[APOD Robot]

A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO

Explanation: One of the most spectacular solar sights is an erupting prominence. In 2011, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence erupting from the surface. The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the featured time lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame was taken every 24 seconds. The scale of the prominence is huge -- the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas. A solar prominence is channeled and sometimes held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelling hot gas into the Solar System. The energy mechanism that creates a solar prominence is still a topic of research. After our Sun passes the current Solar Minimum, solar activity like eruptive prominences are expected to become more common over the next few years.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[Boomer12k]

Awesome display...

:---[===] *

[De58te]

This is interesting and educational. I had thought previously that these eruptions blast straight out from the Sun and hit planets like the Earth creating Northern Lights and power blackouts. Here you can see that it actually spreads out like storm clouds and rains back down to the surface on the left of the photo, while most of it in the last few seconds reverses and is sucked back down to the surface. Or is that just an illusion? It sure looks like the eruption reverses and gets sucked back into the source. How does any of that reach the Earth?

[orin stepanek]

Wow! Awesome; but you better not touch!

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

This is interesting and educational. I had thought previously that these eruptions blast straight out from the Sun and hit planets like the Earth creating Northern Lights and power blackouts. Here you can see that it actually spreads out like storm clouds and rains back down to the surface on the left of the photo, while most of it in the last few seconds reverses and is sucked back down to the surface. Or is that just an illusion? It sure looks like the eruption reverses and gets sucked back into the source. How does any of that reach the Earth?

[Chris Peterson]

This is interesting and educational. I had thought previously that these eruptions blast straight out from the Sun and hit planets like the Earth creating Northern Lights and power blackouts. Here you can see that it actually spreads out like storm clouds and rains back down to the surface on the left of the photo, while most of it in the last few seconds reverses and is sucked back down to the surface. Or is that just an illusion? It sure looks like the eruption reverses and gets sucked back into the source. How does any of that reach the Earth?

This video only shows what's happening close to the Sun. And yes, a lot of material falls back, captured by gravity and closed magnetic fields. But when a prominence erupts it commonly results in material that exceeds the solar escape velocity- a coronal mass ejection- with material released to interplanetary space.

[TheZuke!]

It looks like Sol ruptured an artery!