Yo Mama
04-03-2008, 11:18 PM
Solar Tsunami Caught Blasting Away At Over a Million Kilometers Per Hour
Images from the twin STEREO spacecraft show, for the first time, a solar tsunami blasting its way through the Sun’s lower atmosphere.
Solar tsunamis are launched by huge explosions near the Sun's atmosphere, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Although solar tsunamis share much in common with tsunamis on Earth, the solar version can travel at over a million kilometers per hour.
The tsunami took place on 19th May 2007 and lasted for about 35 minutes, reaching peak speeds around 20 minutes after the initial blast. The observations were made by a team from Trinity College Dublin.
See full story here. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402154252.htm)
Coronal mass ejections (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection) are quite interesting phenomenon, if very scary ones. I saw a show on Discovery Channel about solar activity not too long ago, but they hadn't seen anything this big.
I wonder if the aurora borealis was particularly spectacular around this time?
I found a short video of an earlier one on YT:
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pvuJ-IisxIo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pvuJ-IisxIo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>[/url]
Images from the twin STEREO spacecraft show, for the first time, a solar tsunami blasting its way through the Sun’s lower atmosphere.
Solar tsunamis are launched by huge explosions near the Sun's atmosphere, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Although solar tsunamis share much in common with tsunamis on Earth, the solar version can travel at over a million kilometers per hour.
The tsunami took place on 19th May 2007 and lasted for about 35 minutes, reaching peak speeds around 20 minutes after the initial blast. The observations were made by a team from Trinity College Dublin.
See full story here. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402154252.htm)
Coronal mass ejections (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection) are quite interesting phenomenon, if very scary ones. I saw a show on Discovery Channel about solar activity not too long ago, but they hadn't seen anything this big.
I wonder if the aurora borealis was particularly spectacular around this time?
I found a short video of an earlier one on YT:
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pvuJ-IisxIo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pvuJ-IisxIo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>[/url]