S A V O I A

This is What Happens When the Sun “Burps”

Posted by Cwork on September 5, 2012 · 2 Comments 

On August 31, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory snapped some pretty incredible images of an eruption on the sun. While the explosion did not disturb your mid-morning tanning session, it did send a wave of solar plasma towards the earth at 900 miles per hour. Known as a coronal mass ejection, this is basically what happens when the sun “burps”. As a result, beautiful auroras could be seen throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The one in the first image was taken in Canada.

The video below is a frame by frame breakdown of the sun’s CME taken over a three hour span. Trailing the video are photos from the explosion itself, all taken by NASA.