A ‘sun fart’ shared by N.A.S.A.

A phenomenon known as C.M.E.

N.A.S.A. recently shared a spectacular clip of a phenomenon known as Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which is erupting from the solar surface. The ejection happens when a confined solar atmosphere, called corona, suddenly and violently releases bubbles of gas and magnetic fields. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion.

Sharing the video on Instagram, the agency wrote that the waves of solar plasma shoot billions of particles into space “at about 1 million miles, or 1,600,000 kilometers, per hour”.

The CME in the video did not head toward Earth, according to NASA. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the CME in extreme ultraviolet light in 2013. While solar flares can cause temporary communications and navigation blackouts due to their intense bursts of radiation, CMEs can only momentarily overload electrical systems if the power companies are unprepared.

“Thankfully, our fleet of solar observatories helps us track these fascinating components of space weather, so disruptions on Earth are minimal”, NASA pointed out in the caption of the post.

Since it was shared, the post has gotten a lot of attention on social media. It has received over two million views so far. The clip surprised Instagram users, who couldn’t believe it was real footage. Some even suggested that the sun flares resembled “sun farts”.

Source news18.com