Credits: RT 04 September, 2012, 11:34
A gigantic solar filament collapse has been caught on a NASA
observatory camera. The stunning video covers nearly 3 hours compressed
into half a minute. The event resulted in a coronal mass ejection and a
small-scale geomagnetic storm on Earth.
The footage shot in extreme ultraviolet light shows the last hours of
an arc of relatively cold plasma, which was kept stable by magnetic
forces, but collapsed on August 31. The filament explodes, releasing a
burst of radiation and coronal mass into space.
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| www.swpc.noaa.gov |
The ejection
delivered a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetosphere, triggering a
moderate level geomagnetic storm, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center reported. By Tuesday, however, radiation levels went below the
minor event threshold.
A solar filament, also called a solar
prominence if it is observed against space, consists of hot ionized
hydrogen and helium looping hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the
sun’s surface into the relatively hotter corona. It can persist for
months before ceasing to exist. Astrophysicists so far have no comprehensive theory as to how such structures are formed.
3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast issued Sep 03 22:00 UTC
Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be low through the period (04 - 06 September) with a chance for isolated M- class flares.
Geophysical Activity Forecast: Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active levels on day 1 (04 September) with a chance for minor storm levels as CME effects wind down. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during days 2 - 3 (05 - 06 September) with a chance for active levels due to arrival of Earth-directed CMEs observed on 02 September along with a co-rotating interaction region ahead of a coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). The CH HSS is expected to commence on day 3. The greater than 10 MeV proton event at geosynchronous orbit is expected to end on day 1.