SOLAR FILAMENT: Most
solar flares come from sunspots. The next big explosion, however,
could come from a different source: A huge filament of magnetism is
snaking over the sun's southeastern limb, shown here in a Feb. 5th image
from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
This structure is,
essentially, a tendril of plasma more than 400,000 km long held
suspended above the surface of the sun by magnetic forces. If it becomes
unstable and erupts, it could hurl parts of itself into space. Pieces
of the filament falling back to the solar surface would explode upon
impact, creating one or more Hyder flares.
Astronomers with backyard solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor the structure as it turns toward Earth. A photogenic explosion may be in the offing