This week in hypnotizing science brings us footage from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) of an eruption on the surface of the Sun from July 19, 2012. Eruptions come in all shapes and sizes but this particular one put on quite a show. It starts with a moderate solar flare, continues with a coronal mass ejection (also a great playground insult), and ends with a phenomenon known as coronal rain (also a great band name). Coronal rain is what occurs when hot plasma cools and condenses along the strong magnetic field lines generated by the flare and falls back onto the Sun. It may look like a lovely, gentle shower here, but I assure you it's more like a searing, blistering fire storm. That said, coronal rain is a staggeringly beautiful thing to watch from a distance.
There are several amazing things about this video:
(1) It shows just how much is happening on the surface of the Sun. It's easy to think of stars as big balls of light, but they are really "gigantic nuclear furnaces" (h/t They Might Be Giants). In fact, what we colloquially call the surface of the Sun, is not the surface at all but rather the photosphere, a plasma-like layer hundreds of kilometers thick.
(2) Active regions in the Sun's photosphere are much larger than our entire planet. As you can see in the video, this particular coronal mass ejection is several times the size of Earth!
(3) Each second of the video corresponds to six minutes of real time. So in the roughly three and a half minutes it takes to watch the video, you're actually seeing 21 hours worth of solar activity.
For a more detailed explanation, check out Phil Plait's post.
And if that wasn't enough, here some more geek about how freaky nature can be:
- Alligator penises are really weird. No, seriously. [VIDEO]
- Radio telescopes can detect nuclear tests based on changes in the ionosphere.
- Vampire bats caught feeding on Humbolt penguins in southern Peru. [VIDEO]
- British researchers launch a cell phone into orbit to see if someone can really hear you scream in space.
- Killer whales learn hunting skills via imitation and apprenticeship.
- LISTEN to this amazing recording of two jaguars encountering each other in the Peruvian Amazon.
- Comb jellyfish swallow other comb jellyfish whole! [VIDEO]
- Nighttime clownfish choreography helps sea anemones get more oxygen.
- The science of Spiderman; turns out spider silk really could stop a runaway train.
Until we geek again...@Summer_Ash
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Totally Fantastic Experience...Love this kind of stuff, because it confirms what my Forefathers knew...
That video was so beautiful!! Loved the music behind it too!!
Summer, I always look forward to your blogs!!
The supreme court seems to believe that we don't need the voting rights act because all of America has changed their bigoted ways, they are oh so wrong. The majority of the court is old white men which is the real issue in white america, the good news is this is changing by the real dying of bigotry,
Yep, the old white guys win on a 5-4 basis. Wait, one old white guy is a liberal, and another a moderate. That's 3 conservative old white guys.
I love stars, even our own little middle of the road yellow G2 is nothing short of awe inspiring and there is nothing like them for a bit of Universal perspective
Nature's beauty remains unrivaled. Just an amazing video to watch, it is like a beautiful ballet. When you look at this, it makes you realize how small and fragile our vulnerable planet is.
We had better start taking care of our tiny home.
I always enjoyed Carl Sagan, too, Dragoon. I miss him.
The other videos there at the end are awesome, as well.
Yet another example of fantastic results from an unmanned space project.
If only politician would give up on sending boy scouts into space, to do little at terrific expense. We could send monitoring satellites to all of the planets for a fraction of a trip to return a man to the moon.
"Today's weather report for equatorial Io is cold, being in the shadow of Jupiter, with frequent showers of volcanic material. Heavy magma tides are expected due to a close approach to the gas giant producing higher than usual gravitational shear..."
#6 John,
I responded, did you receive that?
Got it, Thanks so much.
Weirdness Remains Unchanged
Mother Nature, for the careful observer, generally evolves using a "replicate and differentiate" strategy starting at the genetic level, as all things do start at the level.
Mother Nature, also observed another rule, called if it "works don't change it", or the old saw, "if isn't broke don't fixit."
What we see here is doesn't lack for variety, as much as it affirms sameness preserved for very long time.
So which is it? The size of the wave, or the motion of the ocean?
Summer,
Love this stuff! Although I have seen some of it on my own tours of the web, I hope "The Week in Geek" becomes a permanent Sunday geekiness staple here.
Saturday - This week in God
Sunday - This week in Geek
Phenner, Yes! I agree.
Today I someone told me they were upset with a post I made ..I said that voting should be mandatory among other things ...I mentioned that Australia has it and that if they can do it we certainly can....I was told Australia is socialist and mandatory voting is a socialist idea....Please explain how this is so ..and if it is how can we become socialist so everybody actually has to vote
I think i'd prefer election day to be a national holiday. Nobody works, we all go vote.
Trouble is, I doubt many communities could handle all those folks showing up. We could have a waiting line, even in my small town.
The video was excellent, thank you.
Summer,
The video of the sun was wonderful. What is the source of the music? It was an excellent complement to the action.
The music is "Thunderbolt" by Lars Leonhard.
More spider silk:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/spider-silk/
WOW! Never heard of "coronal rain" before. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you!
I'm glad that Phil Plait made it to your shores. He's always worth a look. Also - just to drag this out- This would really make #17- Ejections have Consequences - maddowcryptoblog a truly multi-media experience!
The reference to They Might Be Giants cover of "How the Sun Works" should be updated.
From their album, "Here Comes Science" they had to release an updated version of the song to better capture the science at work. Their new song "Why Does the Sun Really Shine" was released for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-KyciKHw-g