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Astronomy Picture of the Day - A Solar Eruption from SDO
NASA ^ | 13 Jan, 2026 | Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA, Helioviewer; Processing & Text: Ogetay Kayali (MTU)

Posted on 01/13/2026 11:45:41 AM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: What just leapt from the Sun? A towering structure of solar plasma suddenly rose from the Sun's surface and unfurled into space -- a structure so large that many Earths would easily fit within it-- marking the onset of a dramatic Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The event was captured in striking detail in late 2024 by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), whose continuous monitoring improves space weather forecasts and helps humanity better understand how solar activity affects satellites, GPS, radio communications, and power grids on Earth. The featured video blends three extreme-ultraviolet views from SDO’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), revealing how plasma at different temperatures surged upward as the eruption unfolded. Here, red highlights cooler, denser material lifted from the Sun’s lower atmosphere, while yellow traces hotter, million-degree coronal loops stretching outward as magnetic fields open. After the main outburst, the Sun’s magnetic fields quickly reorganize.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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Today's image is a video clip at the link

1 posted on 01/13/2026 11:45:41 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list 🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

Today's image is a video clip at the link

2 posted on 01/13/2026 11:46:27 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenerHow y, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Amazingly high-resolution video, taken from an orbiting observatory.

The dynamic range of the camera that captured that is remarkable. And to do it at multiple wavelengths.


3 posted on 01/13/2026 11:49:25 AM PST by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: MtnClimber

That thing almost looks metallic on the near side.


4 posted on 01/13/2026 12:14:16 PM PST by ComputerGuy
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To: MtnClimber

Beyond amazing!


5 posted on 01/13/2026 12:42:03 PM PST by NeverTyranny
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