Stunning visuals of the sun’s surface belching a coronal mass ejection or CME held web customers spellbound right after NASA shared a video on Instagram. Since becoming shared about 14 hours ago, the post has currently clocked more than 3 million views, which are sure to raise as the beautiful visuals mesmerize space enthusiasts.
In the video, the boiling surface of the sun, the “awesome star” as NASA referred to as it in the caption of the post, can be seen erupting waves of solar plasma which benefits in the sun shooting billions of particles into space at the speed of about 1 million miles per hour. The video shows a CME seen in intense ultraviolet light by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 2013.
But, can this eruption harm human life if it heads towards the Earth?
Not definitely, explains NASA in the caption: “Unlike solar flares, which are powerful bursts of radiation that can temporarily cause communications and navigation blackouts, CMEs like this one can temporarily overload electrical systems if power companies are not prepared.”
“Thankfully, our fleet of solar observatories helps us track these fascinating components of space weather, so disruptions on Earth are minimal,” the space agency added.
The potent visuals made a curious Instagram user ask, “Is this a true footage?”
“Yes! Our Solar Dynamics Observatory captured it with a light filter. The spacecraft orbits the Sun and monitors its activity so we can better understand it,” NASA replied.