(ORDO NEWS) — Exactly one week ago, on Tuesday, February 15, a gigantic explosion occurred on the Sun, as a result of which solar particles were thrown into space, moving at tremendous speeds.
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter team reports that this flare was the largest solar prominence ever seen in a single image of our star’s entire disk.
Fortunately for us, the inhabitants of the Earth, this eruption occurred on the far side of the Sun, facing away from our planet.
But ESA and NASA predicted geomagnetic storms in the next few days after the flare, as the active region of the Sun’s surface responsible for the flare moved to the side facing our planet.
This event was captured by several spacecraft, including the Solar Orbiter and STEREO A solar observatories.
The solar prominence consists of plasma loops glowing with a reddish light, the structure of which is formed under the influence of the internal dynamo of the Sun.
A prominence eruption occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and ruptures outward, releasing plasma.
They are often associated with eruptions of charged particles called coronal mass ejections, which – if directed towards the Earth – can damage elements of our space technology.
The activity of the Sun has increased significantly in the past few months, and the radiation that was emitted during this outbreak, which occurred on February 15, hit two “near-solar” comets that approached our star.
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