• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Astrophotographer Catches Sun Firing Spectacular Plasma Ejection At Mercury

July 18, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Yesterday one of the longest solar prominences seen in years caused the Sun to fire out a major coronal mass ejection (CME). The prominence is estimated to have reached a length greater than the distance between the Earth and the Moon, around 380,000 kilometers (236,000 miles). Although CMEs are common so close to solar maximum, this one stands out a little, both because it looks to be heading straight for Mercury, and because some remarkable images have been captured.

Advertisement

CMEs are the cause of auroras and their associated activity. They occur when solar flares lift magnetic field and plasma from the Sun and fire both into space. 

Not all flares, and not even all large flares, produce CMEs, which is one of the things that make solar activity hard to predict. When they do occur the charged particles lifted off the Sun can, if pointed at Earth, be funneled by the magnetosphere towards the poles, where they ionize excite atoms that release light as they return to their ground state.

Mercury has no atmosphere, so until recently, it was thought nothing interesting would happen when a CME hits. However, a year ago today, evidence was published showing it does something that would be just as spectacular as an aurora for anyone who can see in the X-ray part of the spectrum. The CME’s electrons reach the surface unimpeded causing the rocks themselves to fluoresce at X-ray wavelengths, after compressing Mercury’s magnetosphere.

It’s easy to feel as though the Sun took notice, because in March it fired one major CME at Mercury, and now it has sent another towards the little planet.

Sadly SOHO only caught part of the event, but it still makes for spectacular viewing

Sadly NASA’s SOHO only caught part of the event, but it still makes for spectacular viewing.

Imnage Credit: NASA SOHO

Hopefully, this will keep happening because in December next year, the BepiColombo spacecraft will, all going well, enter orbit around Mercury. It has already made three fly-bys of its destination, using the planet’s gravity to adjust its path around the Sun, as it did twice with Venus, to enable eventual orbital insertion. Three more fly-bys are still to come. Data from one of these quick visits was what alerted astronomers to the whole X-ray fluorescence, so if a CME hits while the craft is in orbit the scientific benefits could be enormous. Whether the solar maximum will continue that long remains to be seen.

Advertisement

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory only caught part of the CME, as it was undergoing calibration, but NOAA’s GOES-16 Solar Ultraviolet Imager caught it all, as did NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), whose images are shown above.

However, all of these were arguably outdone by Argentine astrophotographer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau. A frequent winner of astrophotography awards, Schaberger Poupreau has plenty of previous solar images on his Instagram, but even among those, the one at the top of this story stands out.

“This afternoon, despite the enormous turbulence of the atmosphere (during winter, my “seeing” is very bad), I managed to photograph a gigantic plasma tongue on the Sun with my H-alpha telescope,” Poupea told Spaceweather.com. 

Advertisement

“As I watched, the prominence kept growing and reached an impressive height of more than 380,000 km, more than the distance between the Earth and the Moon! This solar phenomenon was truly spectacular. The gigantic plasma tongue extended like a serpent of fire. The magnitude and beauty of this event left me in awe, reminding me once again of the majesty and power of the universe around us.” 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Cricket-NZ players reach Dubai after ‘specific, credible threat’ derailed Pakistan tour
  2. Soccer-Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold ruled out of Man City game
  3. What Are Baby Platypuses Called?
  4. Should You Wash Chicken Before Cooking It?

Source Link: Astrophotographer Catches Sun Firing Spectacular Plasma Ejection At Mercury

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • In 1977, A Hybrid Was Born In A Zoo. What It Taught Us Could Save One Of The Planet’s Most Endangered Species
  • How To Park A Dangerous Asteroid So It Doesn’t Bite You Later
  • New Study Finds Evidence For What Every Parent Knows About Bluey
  • New Breakthrough Takes Plastic Garbage And Turns It Into Tool For Carbon Capture
  • NASA To Hold Press Conference About New Perseverance Rover Discovery Tomorrow
  • Strange Halos Have Formed Around Barrels Of Chemicals Dumped Off LA’s Coast Over 50 Years Ago
  • As We Grow Older, Our Music Taste Appears To Narrow To Fewer Songs
  • Stinky Seaweed Blob On Florida Beaches Thwarts Baby Sea Turtles’ Dash To The Ocean
  • NASA Is Set To Lock Up Four Volunteers For 378-Day Mars Simulation Study
  • For The First Time, A Vital Oceanic Upwelling Of Nutrient-Rich Water Failed To Emerge In 2025
  • One Of The Largest Crocs Ever “Terrorized Dinosaurs” With Teeth The Size Of Bananas
  • US Congress Is Holding Another UFO Hearing Today – Watch Live
  • Yes, Flying Snakes Do Exist – Sort Of
  • Meet The Bumblebee Bat: The World’s Smallest Bat Is The Last Of Its Kind
  • Did A Giant Planet Sculpt Fomalhaut’s Stunning Ring Into Its Squashed Shape?
  • The Unfolding New Astronomical Revolution – Gravitational Waves Discovery Turns 10
  • “Truly A Reversal”: Scientists Find Protein That Causes Brain Aging, And Learn How To Stop It
  • Tiny 2.5-Micrometer Particles Of Air Pollutants Can Promote Certain Types Of Dementia
  • Ants Have Taken Over Most Of The World – Except For A Few Places
  • Naked Mole-Rats: Bizarre-Looking Mammals That Defy Our Understanding Of Cancer And Aging
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version