Radiation From Sun’s Solar Whip Is Expected To Reach Earth Today [View all]

[n2doc]

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Scientists from NASA have discovered an enormous ‘solar whip’ on the surface of the Sun and have warned that radiation from the phenomenon is heading straight toward Earth, arriving on our doorstep sometime today.

The stunning event was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and, according to a report from Mail Online’s Mark Prigg, video and images of the event were from an earlier date–August 6-8, 2012.

The event shows a very long, whip-like solar filament extending out from the surface of the Sun more than 500,000 miles in a long arc above the star. These filaments are cooler clouds of solar material that are tethered above the Sun’s surface by unstable magnetic forces.

“Towards the end of the video part of the filament seems to break away, but its basic length and shape seem to have remained mostly intact,” NASA said in a statement.


http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112686395/solar-whip-radiation-earth-090412/