Tornadoes are pretty fascinating. But a tornado on the sun? Even more so (and a lot less dangerous).
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — a satellite keeping an eye on the sun — captured a tornado of plasma as it danced on the surface of the sun.
And the tornado was big — more than two Earth’s could fit inside the swirling gases.
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Plasma on the sun isn’t the same as the plasma in our blood (thankfully). Instead it’s ionized gas and very hot (think millions of degrees Celsius).
This little solar tornado (little when you see it on the surface of the sun) didn’t go anywhere. In fact, it succumbed to the gravity of the sun and collapsed.
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