Mercury slammed by gargantuan eruption from the sun's hidden far side, possibly triggering 'X-ray auroras'
By Harry Baker published 11 minutes ago
A gigantic plasma eruption from the sun's hidden far side recently launched a sizable coronal mass ejection that slammed into Mercury, potentially triggering invisible X-ray auroras around the planet's rocky surface.
Looped video footage of a massive plasma eruption coming from the sun's far side
A massive loop of plasma was seen exploding from the sun's far side on March 9. (Image credit: NASA/SDO)
A gigantic, fiery eruption around 40 times wider than Earth recently exploded from the sun's hidden far side. The eruption hurled a massive cloud of plasma into space that later smashed into Mercury, scouring the planet's rocky surface and potentially triggering "X-ray auroras" on the unprotected world.
The eruption was likely triggered by a powerful solar flare, which occurred around 7 p.m. ET on March 9, Spaceweather.com reported. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spotted a large, partially obscured plasma filament exploding outward from behind the sun's northeast limb. Based on the amount of visible plasma, the eruption likely spanned around 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) across.
SDO data showed that the explosion, which likely left behind a massive "canyon of fire" on the sun's surface, also released a large coronal mass ejection (CME) — a fast-moving cloud of magnetied plasma and radiation — that collided with Mercury on March 10.
Mercury is often blasted with CMEs due to its proximity to our home star. The small planet has no atmosphere left as a result of this bombardment and is fully exposed to the full force of these solar storms.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/mercury-slammed-by-gargantuan-eruption-from-the-suns-hidden-far-side-possibly-triggering-x-ray-auroras
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