Explanation:
Ten Earths could easily fit in the "claw" of
this seemingly solar monster.
The monster, though, visible on the lower left, is
a huge eruptive prominence seen
moving out from our
Sun.
The above dramatic image taken early in the year 2000 by the
Sun-orbiting SOHO satellite.
This large prominence, though, is significant
not only for its size, but its shape.
The twisted figure eight shape indicates that a complex
magnetic field threads
through the emerging solar particles.
Differential rotation inside the
Sun might help account for the
surface explosion.
Although large prominences
and energetic
Coronal Mass Ejections
(CMEs) are relatively rare,
they are occurred more frequently near
Solar Maximum,
the time of peak sunspot and
solar activity in the eleven-year
solar cycle.
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