Astronomers were stunned on Tuesday by a massive solar eruption that sent a giant filament of plasma—over 600,000 miles long—sweeping across the sun’s northern hemisphere. That’s more than twice the distance from Earth to the Moon.
The dramatic event, shaped like a “bird wing,” involved a coronal mass ejection (CME)—a powerful wave of plasma and magnetic fields launched into space. Astronomer Jake Foster explained, “Loops of hot plasma… occasionally break free and shoot off into space.”
Though most of the blast is heading away from Earth, scientists believe a small part could strike our planet. If that happens, it may cause a geomagnetic storm capable of disrupting satellites and power systems.
