NASA video captures breathtaking 'canyon of fire' on surface of the Sun

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA video captures breathtaking 'canyon of fire' on surface of the Sun
By Dante D'Orazio on October 24, 2013 12:04 pm






The Sun may make life possible here on Earth, but make no mistake: it's one inhospitable place. If you needed any reminder of that, NASA's released a video compiled from satellite data to show the Sun's most recent coronal mass ejection, a visually-stunning event that sent a 200,000 mile-long magnetic filament erupting off the surface. The filament — about 25 times the diameter of the Earth — left behind a spectacular view of the magnetic fields that held it in place. NASA's calling it a "canyon of fire" and that's an apt description of what it looks like. The imagery used in the video doesn't capture light in the visible spectrum, and it was recorded from the 29th and 30th of September, when the coronal mass ejection exploded in Earth's direction at an estimated 530 miles per second.

NASA | Canyon of Fire on the Sun

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/24/5024520/nasa-video-captures-breathtaking-canyon-of-fire-on-the-surface-of-the