We werehoping for something like this to happen.
Nope, it wasnt Bailys Beads, those speckles of light peeking through the Moons jagged edges.
Rather, it was a solar prominencea reddish or pinkish structure extending from the edge of the Suns disk.
The April 8 total solar eclipse, showing a pronounced prominence at bottom. To observers on the ground, the prominences appeared as red dots along the perimeter of the eclipse.Image: paramsach (Fair Use)
By contrast, solar flares rip themselves from the stars surface, propelled by intense magnetic activity.
Prominences, also known as filaments, take about a day to form and can last for several months.
Theyre also massive, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space.
This image effectively captures the red and pink hues of the prominences.Image: David Wipf (Fair Use)
An erupting prominence happens when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
A depiction of a solar prominence, with Earth added to scale.Image: NASA
