Sun satellite captures first-of-its-kind image of giant solar eruption

NASA and the European Space Agency's (ESA) solar orbiter has captured a first-of-its-kind image of a massive solar eruption.

Published
Updated
1 minute & 2 seconds read time

The European Space Agency (ESA) has published a first-of-its-kind image that showcases a giant solar eruption.

Sun satellite captures first-of-its-kind image of giant solar eruption 02

The ESA has taken to its website to publish an image captured by the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter that showcases what is called a "solar prominences", which are "large structures of tangled magnetic field lines that keep dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the Sun's surface." These solar prominence's often appear as long filaments that look like arching loops. Additionally, the ESA says these eruptions are regularly associated with coronal mass ejections (CME).

The ESA explains that on February 15 a coronal mass ejection occurred on the Sun, which resulted in a large amount of charged particles being ejected out of the Sun. These CMEs can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth if the blast is directed towards our planet, but in the instance of the CME that occurred on February 15, it was heading in the opposite direction.

Sun satellite captures first-of-its-kind image of giant solar eruption 01

The solar orbiter was able to capture the event with the 'Full Sun Imager' (FSI) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) and was deemed "the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image together with the full solar disc" by the ESA.

Buy at Amazon

Ripple Junction NASA Adult Unisex Ship and Satellite Military Full Zip

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$59.99$59.99$59.99
* Prices last scanned on 3/27/2024 at 8:39 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.
NEWS SOURCE:esa.int

Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms. Instead of typical FPS, Jak holds a very special spot in his heart for RTS games.

Newsletter Subscription

Related Tags