Share
Copied
A bright filament of plasma breaks off the sun's surface, forming a vortex swirling around the sun's northern pole. /NASA
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an unprecedented solar phenomenon on February 2 when a massive bright filament of plasma broke off the sun's surface, forming a whirlpool swirling around the sun's northern pole.
"Talk about Polar Vortex!" the video clip was first shared by space weather physicist Tamitha Skov on Twitter. "Material from a northern prominence just broke away from the main filament & is now circulating in a massive polar vortex around the north pole of our Star."
A solar prominence is a large, bright feature extending outward from the sun's surface, according to NASA.
"Implications for understanding the sun's atmospheric dynamics above 55° here cannot be overstated!" she tweeted.
/NASA
While scientists have observed filaments breaking away from the sun, it was the first time that they had seen it circulating through the region in the form of a whirlwind, reported Space.com.
Scott McIntosh, solar physicist and deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Space.com that this is the first time that he has seen such an incident, but "something odd is happening at the sun's 55 degree latitudes" with an 11-year solar cycle.
The physicist said that a solar prominence appears in the same place every solar cycle, which may have something to do with the reversal of the sun's magnetic field. However, exact causes remain unknown.
"We can only observe the sun from the ecliptic plane [the plane in which planets orbit]," McIntosh said, adding that new missions may be needed to study the odd phenomenon.
Search Trends
SITEMAP
Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
SITEMAP
Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466