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The appearance of the sun emitting red flames on the last 15 days. photo = ESA |
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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter, the first mission in history to explore the solar pole, has taken a picture of the giant solar prominence. On the 18th (local time), ESA released the video and photos saying that it had succeeded in observing the sun emitting an abnormally huge prominence.
In the video filmed by Solar Orbiter on the 15th, it is confirmed that a huge pillar of fire rises from one side of the sun, and this is the red flame. Prominence is a phenomenon in which matter ejected from the inside of the sun with intense force rises above the surface and then sinks.
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According to ESA, the prominence observed this time stretched a whopping 3.5 million km and is one of the largest ever observed. Prominence also releases material in this process, which is called ‘corona mass ejection’. Coronal mass ejection can adversely affect not only satellites, but also power grids and telecommunication facilities on Earth, or generate aurora near the poles. However, this prominence is emitted in the opposite direction to the Earth and has no effect on us.
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Virtual graphic image of Solar Orbiter |
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Meanwhile, Solar Orbiter, launched in February 2020, is a joint project between ESA and NASA. In particular, Solar Orbiter is equipped with 10 measuring instruments that can observe the sun in a wide range of wavelengths ranging from visible light, radio waves, extreme ultraviolet rays, and X-rays.
By Park Jong-ik, staff reporter [email protected]
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