A Solar Eruption in 5 Steps
Music credit: Prism Mystery by Donn Wilkerson
Complete transcript available.
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Scientists from Durham University in the United Kingdom and NASA now propose that a universal mechanism can explain the whole spectrum of solar eruptions. They used 3-D computer simulations to demonstrate that a variety of eruptions can theoretically be thought of as the same kind of event, only in different sizes and manifested in different ways. Their work is summarized in a paper published in Nature on April 26, 2017.
Computer simulation of a filament eruption. Field lines are colored to depict the various magnetic field regions: The filament/flux rope (yellow). forms beneath the central arcade (blue) before erupting. The semi-transparent shading shows current density in the plane.
Credit: Peter F. Wyper (Durham University); Spiro K. Antiochos & C. Richard DeVore (NASA GSFC)
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Producer
- Genna Duberstein (USRA)
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Scientist
- C. Richard DeVore (Naval Research Laboratory)
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Science writer
- Kathalina Tran (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, April 26, 2017.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:47 PM EDT.