Sun Burst
On May 27, 2014, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, spacecraft captured a burst of superheated gas, called plasma, gushing from the sun. Such eruptions happen frequently and result from the dynamic magnetic field lines that extend into the sun's atmosphere. Each event can release a huge amount of energy and send streams of million-degree plasma soaring outward. The ejected material either escapes the sun’s gravitational pull and ripples through space or falls back toward the surface. On this occasion, a river of plasma was seen rising and descending above the sun’s limb over a period of two hours. Watch the video to see the event unfold.
A NASA spacecraft records a magnificent solar eruption.
See up-close views of a plasma explosion in this video.
Plasma launches from the sun in this image taken by SDO in December 2013.
SDO captured this image of a gigantic wave of plasma shooting across the sun’s atmosphere in February 2011.
Plasma stretches high above the sun’s disk in this image taken by SDO in September 2013.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Video and images courtesy of NASA/SDO
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Writer
- Max Gleber (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, August 7, 2014.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:50 PM EDT.