An unexpected cosmic display has been captured by a sun-observing satellite as it surveyed the sun’s warm outer atmosphere, known as the corona.
The image taken by the Environmental Monitoring Satellite Operating in a Fixed Orbit (GOES), SUVI Ultraviolet Solar Imaging Device, was a solar eclipse visible only in space and lasting several hours.
The GOES satellite monitors solar emissions that serve as warning signs of solar flares, which can cause blackouts on Earth, and has picked up a filament that explodes at its northwest end near the pole once the moon disappears.
However, we could see sporadic periods of G1-level (minor) geomagnetic storms due to the influence of high-speed solar winds from a coronal hole, EarthSky reports.
An image of the moon blocking out part of the sun was shared on Twitter, where one user described the scene by saying, “It looks like the moon is taking a bite out of the sun.”
Solar emission observations aid in the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and other phenomena affecting the geospatial environment.
The first warning comes when the SUVI instrument observes a solar flare at least 15 hours before the coronal mass ejection reaches Earth.
Coronal mass ejections are large ejections of plasma and magnetic fields from the solar corona.
It can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry a latent magnetic field (freezing flux) that is stronger than the strength of the background interplanetary magnetic field (IMF).
While this eclipse was not seen on Earth, the United States witnessed a stunning cosmic display of a reddish moon hanging in the dark sky on Nov. 8.
This event is known as a blood moon and occurs when Earth’s shadow covers the Moon and blocks all direct sunlight from reflecting it – this causes the Moon to darken and turn a coppery red.
