A 62,000 mile high “Plasma Falls” that erupted from the Sun

(ORDO NEWS) — A stunning solar “waterfall” has been spotted on the surface of the Sun.

An image taken on March 9 by astrophotographer Eduardo Schaberger Pupo shows a wall of plasma flying out “about 100,000 kilometers”, “or about 62,000 miles towards space,” Pupo said in an interview with Spaceweather.com.

This is high enough to swallow up about eight Earths.

The plasma appears to be cascading down the sun, giving the structure the nickname “waterfall”.

“On my computer screen, it looked like hundreds of filaments of plasma were streaming down the wall. It really was a sight that left me speechless,” Pupo told the publication.

The scientists estimate that the plasma falls down at a tremendous speed – up to 22,370 miles per hour.

These plasma waterfalls are the solar equivalent of Earth‘s auroras.

This structure is called the polar corona prominence.

Prominences on the Sun usually take the form of giant tentacles of hot plasma stretching into space in a large arc, as can be seen below.

But when these prominences occur near the poles of the Sun, more precisely around the Arctic Circle, the magnetic fields are so strong that instead of escaping into space, the plasma can cascade back. very quickly down to the sun.

Because of the location of these prominences, NASA compares them to the aurora because they surround the poles at about 60 to 70 degrees solar latitude.

“However, instead of the northern lights, the solar ovals are filled with dancing layers of plasma. ,” according to a NASA blog post.

You can see these structures lined up around the Arctic Circle below.

The sun is approaching peak activity

This is just the latest in a string of brilliant solar events that have taken place in recent months as our Sun approaches peak activity.

About every ten years, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip, causing havoc with the local magnetic field. fields that are torn across our star. During this period, wonderful solar events are more likely to occur.

Examples of recent solar events include:

• Plasma vortex rotating like a whirlpool around the solar pole.
• A huge coronal “hole” in our Sun that has been spewing energy at Earth in recent weeks.
• Auroras are visible even in New Mexico.
  A 14-Earth-sized “tornado” solar star formed when prominences were caught between magnetic fields.

Space weather isn’t just good

Scientists don’t just look up to the sun to see these beautiful structures. With solar phenomena comes space weather that can wreak havoc on our planet.

Any of these major solar events can release waves of energy that shoot out from the Sun into space.

If directed toward Earth, these so-called solar storms could wreak havoc on power grids and other infrastructure if not managed properly, Insider scientists previously reported.

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