The Sun blows a raspberry

It seems NASA has discovered a new, temporary radiation belt surrounding Earth.  To me, however, the really amazing part of the discovery was what they think may have caused it – a spectacular eruption of solar plasma on August 31st, 2012.  Here’s a reduced-size photograph of it.

It’s astonishing to realize that pillar of plasma is millions of miles long!  A full-size version of the photograph may be seen here.  It makes a spectacular wallpaper background for your computer screen.

Peter

2 comments

  1. Being the mature woman that I am, the line "the sun blew a raspberry," caused uncontrollable giggling…

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *