LOOK: Stunning image shows gigantic plasma wall on the sun
Screengrab from Amazing things/X
Earth’s outer space never ceases to amaze. The universe is full of cosmic mysteries – including our solar system’s only star, the sun, which recently unraveled a magnificent spectacle.
An enormous plasma wall on the sun was spotted by NASA on May 20, 2024. Captured on video, the image sparked curiosity and fascination among space enthusiasts.
If you’re a Stranger Things fan, this stunning image of the sun might eerily look familiar, resembling the Upside Down.
Recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), plasma walls are massive formations made of ionized gas.
Today on the Sun.
The height of the plasma “wall” is comparable to the diameter of our planet. pic.twitter.com/ZhHVSUSk6t
— Curiosity (@MAstronomers) May 20, 2024
“The Sun is made of plasma. Plasma is an ionized gas, which creates an electromagnetic field. Plasmas are electrically charged and they move through space, therefore produce currents,” NASA explains.
The science behind the plasma walls on the sun
There are two ways in which the sun releases energy: dramatic bursts of light, magnetic fields and particles, and a constant flow of light.
Solar activities can form intricate patterns of magnetic fields that arc and loop around the Sun’s atmosphere, and when these fields entangle, they can create a solid wall-like formation.
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These plasma walls are just as visually stunning as they are scientifically important. Forming in the Sun’s corona — the outermost area of its atmosphere — they are closely connected to the solar cycles.
Furthermore, when these prominences become unstable, they could possibly erupt and eventually release solar material into space resulting in coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
The CMEs can significantly impact space weather and affect the Earth with interruption in satellite communications and power grids.
Moreover, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in 2010, has been monitoring the sun and providing high-definition images and data on solar phenomena.
With continuous observations, NASA helps researchers and scientists further understand the sun’s magnetic field and the processes involved in solar activities. All of which are vital in predicting solar storms and protecting our technology-dependent world.
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Meanwhile, Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau, a photographer from Argentina, captured a magnificent image of a plasma wall on the sun earlier this month.
The plasma veil towered 61,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) over the surface of the Sun. That’s over a quarter of the distance between Earth and the moon.
“It looked like hundreds of strands of plasma were trickling down a wall on my computer screen,” Poupeau shared with The Science Times.
