Solar Tsunami

Synopsis

The SOHO spacecraft records the immense effects of rising energy on the sun's surface. Its ultraviolet sensors reveal a wavy pattern of gas, alongside the super-hot halo known as the corona. The white regions indicate where the rising gas escapes suddenly. Immense loops of ionized gas, measuring ten times the diameter of Earth, rise and fall back, forming solar prominences that reach temperatures of about 60,000 degrees Celsius. At times, energy release on the solar surface becomes bottled up, leading to significant solar events.