I Have Never Seen Anything Like These Tornadoes On the Surface of the Sun

I've seen many sun flares, but I've never seen anything like this video showing several dark plasma tornadoes on the surface of the Sun, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It's simply mesmerizing and bloody amazing.

An active region rotating into view provides a bright backdrop to the gyrating streams of plasma. The particles are being pulled this way and that by competing magnetic forces. They are tracking along strands of magnetic field lines.

Each frame of the video was captured every four minutes for 30 hours, starting on February 7. According to NASA, this kind of video would have never been possible without SDO up in space, which has now been working for two years now.

Thread Title and quote from gizmoto.com

This is amazing and beautiful. Thank you NASA!

I've heard of sun spots, but never sun tornado's.

Here's the video I made from the 4:3 NASA version which doesn't play well with youtube to 16:9 youtube friendly version for those who don't want to click the link:

soooo that tornato is probably the size of earth
2nd

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing! The sun is amazing!

reply to post by pianopraze



It doesn't look like tornadoes to me. What I'm seeing is solar flares shooting up but being pulled back down because of the sun's strong gravity.

I Have Never Seen Anything Like These Tornadoes On the Surface of the Sun

I don´t think any of us have

reply to post by Magnificient


He wasn't talking about the flares, he was talking about the darker patches on the "surface" which are plasma.

Yes, the Sun is freaking incredible. I cant believe the high rez pics they have of it now compared to when I was in school or just younger in General. The Sun is Crazy!!!! Whomever named it the Sun knew what they were talking about.

Waiting for PHAGE to provide a "logical" explanation to all this.

Originally posted by solarstorm
Waiting for PHAGE to provide a "logical" explanation to all this.

The explanation is on the NASA link in my OP, which I also posted in the video:

As if it could not make up its mind . . . darker, cooler plasma slid and shifted back and forth above the Sun's surface seen here for 30 hours (Feb. 7-8, 2012) in extreme ultraviolet light. An active region rotating into view provides a bright backdrop to the gyrating streams of plasma. The particles are being pulled this way and that by competing magnetic forces. They are tracking along strands of magnetic field lines. This kind of detailed solar observation with high-resolution frames and a four-minute cadence was not possible until SDO, which launched two years ago on Feb. 11, 2010. So it's our 2nd Anniversary!

NASA SDO website

No explanation from another member will change that.

It's awesome in it's beauty, strange that some of the most destructive forces are the most beautiful.

It just shows how insignificant humans are.

reply to post by pianopraze


How about tornadoes in our ionosphere? spaceweather.com...
Is it " on earth as it is in heaven"?

That is absolutely amazing, must be some kind of temperature changes occuring on the surface, fast enough to produce these stunning Tornadoes

Ahh yes our local star is quite amazing...
Hence, the reason it is included in my avatar!
The power that huge nuclear furnace produces is something fierce.
Something which we humans will never compete with.
Or harness to the fullest potential.
Maybe in the future...


Very nice video, and good thread!

S&F! I love it. There is so much we don't know yet!

The sun is truly amazing, 'she' never fails to amaze us. S&F for the find

reply to post by pianopraze


Is that clockwise spin, I see?

I love the Sun!!!

I wanted to share these two sites with others who find solar activity beautiful and fascinating!...please use them often and enjoy the info they share...

Science baby...man I love it!

spaceweather.com...

www.solarham.com...

Nice video, I have been watching quite a few similar ones lately.

Looking at this quote:

I've seen many sun flares, but I've never seen anything like this video showing several dark plasma tornadoes on the surface of the Sun,

I was wondering how many, if at all, close up images/videos anyone has ever seen. I have never seen images like this at all let alone ones with tornadoes. Point being if all we've ever seen was a yellow fuzzy ball then how would we see what was actually happening on the Sun?...Before now, of course.

Originally posted by Malcher
I was wondering how many, if at all, close up images/videos anyone has ever seen. I have never seen images like this at all let alone ones with tornadoes. Point being if all we've ever seen was a yellow fuzzy ball then how would we see what was actually happening on the Sun?...Before now, of course.

You are quite correct according to NASA this was never possible before 2010:

This kind of detailed solar observation with high-resolution frames and a four-minute cadence was not possible until SDO, which launched two years ago on Feb. 11, 2010.

NASA

For sure looked like a
tornado.

I do not think it was the size of the earth though.

I for sure as hell would not want to be caught up
in it...

Reminds me of that bible story where Elijah
got took up in a tornado of fire chariot to heaven.