Science WireSpace

Dramatic circular outburst from sun

A round solar filament that had just rotated into view burst out from the sun over a three-hour period on March 13, 2016 in a dramatic display. As you can see in the video, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), much of the plasma did not have enough oomph behind it to escape the gravitational pull of the sun.

Filaments are clouds of gas suspended above the sun by magnetic forces. They are notoriously unstable and often break apart after a few days. The video clip was made from images taken every 12 seconds, the fastest cadence in the world for solar observations from space.

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Bottom line: Video of a circular solar outburst on March 13, 2016 by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Here’s more about SDO

Posted 
March 22, 2016
 in 
Science Wire

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