Explanation:
What did the monster active region that created the recent auroras look like when at the Sun’s edge?
There, AR 3664 better showed its 3D structure.
Pictured, a large multi-pronged
solar prominence
was captured extending from chaotic
sunspot region AR 3664 out into space,
just one example of the particle clouds ejected
from this violent solar region.
The Earth could easily fit under this long-extended prominence.
The featured image was captured two days ago from this constantly changing region.
Yesterday, the
strongest solar flare
in years was expelled (not shown),
a blast classified in the upper
X-class.
Ultraviolet light from that flare quickly hit the
Earth’s atmosphere
and caused shortwave
radio blackouts across both
North and South America.
Although
now rotated to be facing slightly away from the Earth,
particles from AR 3664 and subsequent
coronal mass ejections (CMEs)
might still follow
curved magnetic field lines
across the inner
Solar System and create more
Earthly auroras.
Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240515.html
