#Solar #Tsunami huge loop of plasma erupts from the left side of the sun, as seen from Earth, in a new picture from NASA'

Alex von Wittig

11:35 AM  -  Public

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/pictures/120420-best-space-pictures-192-sun-hubble-shuttle-science/

Space Pictures This Week: Sun Tsunami, Hubble Spider, More »

The sun spits a plasma cloud, Hubble peers at a tarantula's heart, a shuttle gets a new home, and more in the week's best space pictures.

Solar Tsunami

Image courtesy SDO/NASA

A huge loop of plasma erupts from the left side of the sun, as seen from Earth, in a new picture from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft taken on Monday. The release of the so-called solar prominence was accompanied by a medium-strength solar flare.

The eruptions also sent out a cloud of charged particles known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME. These invisible clouds can cause auroras and even electrical outages when aimed at Earth. (See "As Sun Storms Ramp Up, Electric Grid Braces for Impact.")