Rare Giant Solar Tornado and Plasma Eruption Captured Together on the Sun

A ginormous solar tornado and a massive eruption of plasma have been observed occurring at the same time on the sun — a phenomenon so strange and rare that it's challenging previously held theories. Both phenomena were snapped in the same photograph by the Institute of Space Science in Romania researcher Maximilian Teodorescu on Aug. 20. Solar tornadoes and plasma eruptions seem dramatic but are in fact the offshoots of changing in the sun's invisible magnetic field. They're unrelated, but to view them together is extraordinary and a thrill for scientists.

Why Solar Tornadoes and Eruptions Matter

As per Live Science, the solar tornado was enormous — it clocked in at about 130,000 kilometers (nearly 80,000 miles) tall. That's higher than stacking over 10 Earths on top of one another. Solar tornadoes tend to be much smaller, around 25,000 to 100,000 kilometers high. In addition to it, Teodorescu also imaged an eruptive prominence that measured some 200,000 kilometers across – about the same size as another famous prominence — called “The Beast” — that we photographed in July.

Solar tornadoes don't spin like terrestrial ones. And what blows is not air and wind but super-hot plasma, pinched in place by the Sun's magnetic field. If instability is dominant, plasma will escape the field into space as an eruptive prominence. The sun has a case of gas every so often, in the form of clouds of solar plasma, known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that can buffet Earth's magnetic field and cause its magnetic lines to erupt, sending auroras sparking across the sky and wreaking havoc on satellites. Good news? This CME is not aimed at Earth.

The event was seen by Teodorescu using the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG), a series of telescopes around the world that stare at the sun. His wife, Eliza, also a scientist, helped “on the ground,” orienting the telescope for a clearer shot. The Sun is currently at solar maximum, the most tempestuous point in the 11-year solar cycle.

Which is to say there are probably more tornadoes, eruptions and CMEs in store. Some scientists are calling it one of the most exciting times to safely observe the Sun through solar equipment.