Largest solar eruption ever caught on camera revealed in incredible space station image

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An incredible image has captured the largest solar event in history, with experts warning it is an “important reminder of the unpredictable nature of the sun”.

An incredible image has captured the largest solar event in history, with experts warning it is an “important reminder of the unpredictable nature of the sun”.

Astronomers have shared an unprecedented image of an enormous solar eruption from a sun-observing satellite.

The image snapped by the Solar Orbiter shows scorching material bursting from the sun‘s surface on February 15.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), it’s the largest “solar prominence” ever observed with the full solar disk in a single image.

“Solar prominences are large structures of tangled magnetic field lines that keep dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the sun’s surface, sometimes taking the form of arching loops,” ESA said in a statement.

“They are often associated with coronal mass ejections, which if directed towards Earth, can wreak havoc with our technology and everyday lives.”

On February 15, the star fired off two enormous explosions from its farside, fortunately missing our planet. According to ESA, it extended millions of kilometres into space.

The Solar Orbiter – a sun-observing satellite developed by ESA and Nasa – captured the blast using its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager instrument.

The magnificent coronal mass ejection (CME) was recorded by a number of space telescopes, including Nasa’s STEREO-A spacecraft.

CMEs are giant eruptions that send plasma hurtling through space – and the sun has undergone several of them throughout the month.

If they hit Earth, the plumes of material can trigger geomagnetic storms that knock out satellites and disrupt power grids.

Based on its size, it’s possible that the eruption was an X-class flare – the most powerful category possible.

“Other space telescopes frequently see solar activity like this, but either closer to the sun, or further out by means of an occulter, which blocks out the glare of the sun’s disc to enable detailed imagery of the corona itself,” ESA said.

“Thus, the prominence observed by Solar Orbiter is the largest ever event of its kind to be captured in a single field of view together with the solar disc.”

It added that the image “opens up new possibilities to see how events like these connect to the solar disc for the first time”.

It’s been a busy month of solar activity. The sun has erupted every day for the month of February, according to astronomer Dr Tony Phillips, who runs the website spaceweather.com. Some days have seen multiple solar flares. Three of them have fallen into the second-most powerful flare category, M-class flares.

January saw five M-class flares. One such flare led to a solar storm on January 29 that knocked 40 SpaceX satellites out of action. The rest of the flares in February have fallen into the milder C-class category.

While it might sound frightening, it’s all part of our sun’s normal activity – so there’s no need to panic just yet. Astronomers keep a close eye on the sun’s activity to ensure that there is plenty of warning before any potential geomagnetic storm hits.