#Video: Magnetic Twister #Erupts on #Sun

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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an enormous plasma twister erupting on the surface of the sun Oct. 28.

The explosion was triggered by a tangled coil of magnetism that suddenly untwisted, acting like a loaded spring and hurling solar matter into space. At its peak, the twister towered more than 217,000 miles above the surface of the sun.

Luckily, the fragments of plasma flung into space were not headed toward Earth, where they could have caused a magnetic storm. Now that the twister has relaxed, it probably won’t erupt again — though other sunspots are gathering energy and could produce medium-sized solar flares.

Via spaceweather.com

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