The Sun is a powerful and terrifying celestial object, and sometimes, astrophotographers managed to capture the intense plasma clouds that the Sun ejects on video. That’s the case in a new video shared by Miguel Claro back in July of 2022. Claro observed the coronal mass ejection on July 10, but recently reshared the video on Instagram and Vimeo.
The video showcases the outbursting plasma cloud in spectacular fashion, too, though it isn’t the first time that we’ve seen such an eruption caught on camera. Previously, astrophotographers have captured solar flares and other coronal mass ejections on video. What makes this one so mesmerizing, though, is how closely it zooms in on the plasma jutting out from the surface of the Sun.
Claro wrote on his Instagram that he noticed the event while checking on the Sun’s activity that day. He immediately began shooting, capturing over an hour of images which he turned into a video he shared on Vimeo and Instagram. Much like other plasma clouds caught on video, this particular outburst is a stark reminder of the power at play underneath our Sun’s surface.
And scientists are constantly looking for more information about the Sun, too. Not only are there concerns about how the Sun will destroy Mercury, Venus, and Earth in the future, but there are also concerns about how big some sunspots might be growing. Combine that with the force that plasma clouds like the one caught on video are capable of releasing, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
The chances of anything drastic happening with our Sun right now are slim. However, as the Sun continues to move toward the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, we’re likely to see even more videos of plasma clouds and solar flares like this.
The hope is the Sun won’t be pointed toward Earth when they erupt, so they don’t cause geomagnetic storms capable of disrupting GPS and communications.
Related coverage: This is when the Sun and the Earth will die, according to scientists.
