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During therecent total solar eclipse , you may have glimpsed what wait like volatile solar flares burst from the sunshine after its perfervid corona briefly do into view . But it plow out this was not the case .
However , what you or others may have seen was equally telling and just as beautiful .
Large plasma plumes seen around the sun during totality were not caused by solar flares, experts say.
On Monday ( April 8) , meg of masses across North America watched as the moon temporarily blocked out our home star and its shadow raced along the path of totality between Mexico and Canada at more than 1,500 mph ( 2,400 km / h ) . The cosmic event , which wasalso seen from space , was particularly special because of the distance of totality — the period when the sun ’s twinkle was completely obscured — whichlasted for up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds .
During totality , some observers saw ruby dots around the obscured sun . Detailed photograph of these dots break they were actually plasma , including a especially great , fiery plume on the sun ’s southwest branch . As a result , multiple release includingUSA TodayandNDTVreported that these fiery structures were produced bysolar flares — plosion on the sun ’s airfoil that can set in motion monumental clouds of blood plasma , known ascoronal quite a little ejections(CMEs ) , into outer space . pot of observers also take on to social media to share their picture of these " solar flare . "
But experts weighed in to repoint out there were no solar flares during the occultation .
Lots of observers reported seeing red dots around the sun during totality.
" There are many ( incorrectly ) reporting that asolar flarewas seeable during the totalsolar eclipse,“Ryan French , an astrophysicist at the National Solar Observatory in Colorado , write on the societal chopine X. " This is woefully out of true , and the promising feature seen by millions was actually a gibbousness . These are longer - lived plasma structure , and not explosive like flares . "
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Solar natural action data backs up French ’s title . On April 8 , there was just one minor C - class solar flair that end several hours beforetotality began anywhere in the U.S. , and it did not launch a CME , according toSpaceWeatherLive.com . This solar flare was also not colligate to the large prominences seen during the eclipse .
Unlike solar flares , which eject plasma as they explode from the Dominicus ’s aerofoil , prominences are plasma bodily structure that remain machine-accessible to the solar surface for days or weeks , normally forming a large loop , according toNASA . Prominences can finally snap and cast away plasma into blank space like a CME , but this did n’t bump during the eclipse .
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Many citizenry wereexpecting solar flares during the eclipsebecause the sun is presently near the vizor of its roughly 11 - year solar bicycle , know assolar maximum . During this flow , dark macula litter the solar aerofoil andfrequently unleash flare and other solar stormsas the Dominicus ’s magnetic field begins to run .
However , in the lead - up to the occultation , thesun became surprisingly inactive with almost no sunspots , which meant the chances of solar flair occurring were greatly reduced . This solar activeness letup is only impermanent and is expected to pass on by the end of the week , concord toEarthSky.com .
If you missed the occultation , do n’t worry , it is stillpossible to rewatch NASA ’s live stream of the event .
