Solar Shock Wave
Credit & Copyright: Barry Reynolds (Perth, Australia)
and the
SOHO -
EIT Consortium
Explanation:
On September 24, 1997 a
shock wave blasted across
the surface of the sun at speeds of 250 to 600 kilometers
per second.
On planet Earth, observer Barry Reynolds photographed the expanding
shock front (left) in the
light emitted by hydrogen atoms
at the solar surface.
His discovery image was nicely confirmed by a space-based extreme
ultraviolet image (right) of the shock ramming through the
sun's upper atmosphere
as recorded by the SOHO satellite observatory.
In both pictures a bright
solar flare is seen near the center
of a circular arc-like feature representing a shock front.
The shock front is dark in the ground based photo and
bright in the ultraviolet image.
These shock fronts are believed to be tracers of a 3-dimensional disturbance
caused by the flare but researchers are uncertain as to the exact
physical mechanisms which produced it.
Along with other violent events called coronal mass ejections,
solar flares are known to
generate streams of energetic particles
which can affect the Earth's magnetosphere and
Earth orbiting satellites.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.