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Solar "Tadpoles" Finally Explained

Abhishek writes " Solar "tadpoles" - dark shadows that seem to wiggle down toward the surface of the sun during flares - may have been explained by University of Warwick astrophysicists. Dr Valery Nakariakov and Dr Erwin Verwichte analysed observations obtained with NASA's "Transition Region And Coronal Explorer" (TRACE) space mission. They theorize that the wiggles of the tadpoles' tails are earth-sized waves similar to the waves in a flag blown by the wind. They think that the waves are produced by a phenomenon known as "negative energy waves"; waves pull energy from the medium they propagate through. The "tadpoles" are optical illusions, rather than real physical structures; the apparently descending tadpole head marks the falling start point of the matter's upward acceleration."

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  1. Does this mean by Scrameustache · · Score: 4, Funny



    That we don't have to worry about being eaten alive by the Giant Solar Frogs anymore?

    SIgh... I hate that feeling when I read an article that solves a mystery I never even heard of. There's the sense of loss: All the wild speculations that never were. The info is still interresting, but I feel like I just walked in when someone was telling the punch line of a joke.

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...