NASA Records Solar Blast of Epic Proportions

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday December 7, 2010 @10:00AM from the i-burnt-my-fingers dept.

Arvisp writes "As predicted, the a 'mega-filament' of solar magnetism erupted on Dec. 6th, producing a blast of epic proportions. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action as the 700,000-km long structure lifted off the stellar surface and--snap!!--hurled itself into space. The eruption produced a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the STEREO-A spacecraft: video. Earth was not in the line of fire; the cloud should sail wide of our planet. Earth-effects might be limited to pretty pictures."

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video by Internal+Modem · 2010-12-07 10:10 · Score: 5, Interesting

video = http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2010/12/06/ahead_20101206_cor2_512.mpg
Scale by pete-classic · 2010-12-07 10:11 · Score: 5, Interesting

For scale, 700,000km is half the diameter of the Sun.
-Peter