Gigantic Solar Filament Eruption May Be Earth-Directed
AN EXPLOSION ON THE SUN: Yesterday, May 30th, a dark filament of magnetism lifted off the surface of the sun and blasted through the sun's atmosphere. The explosion likely hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. However, because of gaps in space-based coronagraph images, we are unable to confirm the CME.
A large filament, about 30 degrees in length and centered near S15E30, disappeared from GONG H-alpha imagery at around 1200 UTC. The feature can also be seen lifting in loops of SDO AIA 304 imagery. The event is not yet visible in NASA SOHO LASCO due to data gaps, but is expected to show a CME when images become available. Additional analysis will be completed when more data becomes available.
Clip credit: NASA/SDO
