A massive solar tornado, going about 14 times the size of Earth was witnessed. Read to know more about the awe-striking occurrence.
All about the solar tornado
Images of what could be the tallest solar tornado were captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. It occurred at the sun’s north pole and was building for three days. Ultimately, it rose as high as 120,000 kilometers before collapsing into a cloud of magnetized gas. This is equivalent to 14 piles of our planet, The boiling plasma was brewing for three days and it ejected various materials into space. starsoffline However, as per a Space Weather report, Earth will not be feeling the effects of the tornado or the materials expelled.
This occurrence was observed by astronomers, astrophotographers, and amateurs, all in awe of it. ” I spent 3 hours yesterday with my solar telescope pointed at a tall tornado-y-looking thing on the sun. This 14-Earths-tall swirling column of plasma was raining moon-sized gobs of incandescent material on the sun. I can’t imagine a more hellish place,” tweeted Andrew McCarthy, an astrophotographer.
More on the occurrence
According to reports, the sun has been highly active for the last few days, As per a UK weather forecaster, at least six sunspots are currently visible on the disk. A sunspot is a temporary phenomenon on the surface of the Sun that appears as a dark spot or region on its surface. Additionally, they are caused by intense magnetic activity that can inhibit heat convection. Hence leading to localized cooling of the surface.
Moreover, additional plasma eruptions and solar glares are expected in the coming days on the southeastern edge of the sun. Additionally, solar winds are currently ejecting from two coronal holes in the upper atmosphere or corona. Unlike solar tornados, they can trigger geomagnetic storms upon contact with the magnetic field of the earth.