Amazing image of a plasma ‘waterfall’ on the Sun

A photographer has captured a stunning image of a giant wall of plasma crashing toward the sun’s surface at unimaginable speed after being ejected near the sun’s south pole.

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The photo was taken by Eduardo Schaberger Bobo last week. Amateur astronomer Bobo reported that the plasma wall was prominent about 100,000 kilometers above the sun’s surface. For comparison: This amounts to about eight dusts stacked on top of each other. Popo explained what he captured with his camera equipment: “On my computer screen, it looked like hundreds of plasma filaments were shooting down a wall.”

This phenomenon is not entirely rare. In astronomy, it is known as the crown protrusion. If such an ejection of plasma occurs elsewhere, known loops occur, which move along the magnetic field to the surface of the Sun. However, when large amounts of plasma escape from one of the magnetic poles, it rises and then falls again like a giant waterfall.

fall fast

While the event isn’t exactly rare, there aren’t as many stunning shots as Poupeau. The events are still puzzling to researchers. Because the plasma is retreating towards the surface of the sun at speeds of up to 36,000 kilometers per hour. This is faster than can be explained by gravity and the strength of the magnetic field.

A study published in the journal Frontiers in Physics in 2021 showed that the prominence of the crown goes through two phases during its eruption: a slow phase, in which the plasma slowly shoots upward, and a rapid phase, in which the plasma shoots upward. peaks. This likely affects the way the plasma returns to the surface, but more research is needed to be sure.

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