Solar tornado (1 photo + 1 video)

Astronomers captured and posted a video of a solar tornado online. The plasma ejection swirled spectacularly above the surface.





Such formations are called "prominences"—dense streams of hot, ionized gas held by the Sun's magnetic field. The largest ones reach hundreds of thousands of kilometers and sometimes "break away," rushing into space or toward Earth, causing magnetic storms and auroras.



A rather beautiful scene of the Sun parting with a large prominence, filmed over the past 24 hours. The video began yesterday around noon Moscow time, and the last frames were captured literally half an hour ago. It took the star about 24 hours to completely unravel the completely insane tangle of matter and magnetic field that formed at the edge of the Sun. This has nothing to do with 3I/ATLAS or its impact on Earth (it all happens very far from both the first and second bodies), but the tornado of plasma and magnetic field lines is still fascinating to watch.