Sun just unleashed a 10,00,000-km-long mega eruption. Will Earth be hit?
In what could only be described as a fiery burp, the Sun unleashed a mega explosion from its northern hemisphere hurtling millions of tons of solar material into space.The solar filament caught by aurora chaser Vincent Ledvina, stretches over a million kilometres in length as it begins its journey away from the Sun.A solar filament is a large, elongated structure of cool, dense plasma suspended above the Sun's surface by magnetic fields. Despite being cooler than the surrounding solar atmosphere (the corona), it still emits light but appears dark when viewed against the bright background of the Sun. advertisement
Solar filaments form along areas where the Sun's magnetic field is particularly complex.Sharing the video on X, Vincent Ledvina wrote "Not sure what to call this eruption, maybe the "bird-wing" or "angel-wing" event? Either way, it is truly something to witness!"After weeks of relative quiet, the Sun has sprung back to life, unleashing two powerful solar flares from opposite hemispheres.The first, an X1.2-class flare, erupted with force, causing a brief shortwave radio blackout over the Americas and launching a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. According to NASA models, the CME is expected to strike Mercury, graze Venus, and miss Earth entirely later this week.What a spectacular CME from the huge filament eruption earlier today! Unfortunately it is directed north and will miss us. A direct hit from a CME like this can be high-end G4 storm material, maybe even G5. https://t.co/StNvwdYyqp pic.twitter.com/nFHPc5F8ap— Jure Atanackov (@JAtanackov) May 13, 2025advertisementThe second flare, rated M5.3, triggered a longer radio blackout across Southeast Asia and likely released a CME as well. If confirmed, this one may contain an Earth-directed component, but scientists await updated imagery from SOHO coronagraphs to verify its trajectory.The explosion comes over a year after the most severe geomagnetic storm in two decades struck Earth and triggered cascading effects on Earth's infrastructure.The thermosphere, Earth's upper atmospheric layer was heated to a record 1,150C from the storm, causing it to expand and loft heavy nitrogen particles higher.The storm generated the largest electrical currents in Earth's magnetosphere in 20 years, which were observed by Nasa's MMS and THEMIS-ARTEMIS missions.
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