Stunning space image shows giant solar eruption taking place on the Sun
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
A striking image has captured a solar eruption taking place on the Sun.
Nasa and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft took the unprecedented image last week.
It's the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image, along with the full disk of the Sun, ESA said in a statement.
In the statement, the ESA explained that solar prominences are large structures of tangled magnetic field lines that keep dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface, sometimes taking the form of arching loops. They are often associated with coronal mass ejections, which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun.
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The milestone observation made last week, showed the eruption extended millions of kilometres into space, however the coronal mass ejection was fortunately not directed at Earth.
Although other space telescopes frequently see solar activity, the prominence observed by Solar Orbiter is the largest ever event of its kind to be captured in a single field of view together with the solar disc, “opening up new possibilities to see how events like these connect to the solar disc for the first time,” the ESA statement said.
Even spacecraft not dedicated to solar science felt the blast, ESA said. A spacecraft currently in the vicinity of Mercury’s orbit detected a massive increase in the readings for electrons, protons, and heavy ions with its radiation monitor.
“And while this event did not send a blast of deadly particles towards Earth, it is an important reminder of the unpredictable nature of the Sun and the importance of understanding and monitoring its behaviour.
“Together with ESA’s future dedicated space weather mission Vigil, which will provide unique views of events like these, we can better protect our home planet from the Sun’s violent outbursts.”