Scientists and astronomers all over the world are stunned by a new video that is doing rounds on social media where a huge part of the Sun can be seen breaking away from its surface and taking a tornado-like swirl. The phenomenon was captured by NASA’s James Webb telescope and has amazed astronomers. The reasons behind the phenomenon are currently being analyzed. A video depicts a large filament of plasma, or electrified gas, blasting out from the sun, splitting, and then circling in a ‘vast polar vortex.’
Space weather forecaster Tamitha Skov shared a video sequence to Twitter late last week that shows a huge filament of solar plasma breaking free from the Sun’s surface.
“Talk about polar vortex! Material from a northern prominence just broke away from the main filament & is now circulating in a massive polar vortex around the north pole of our star,” she tweeted of the footage, taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Solar shenanigans are not entirely unexpected currently. Our star is ramping up its activity, getting rowdier with sunspot and flare activity. It has flared every day this year so far, and it spat out several X-class and M-class flares in January 2023, the biggest and second-biggest eruptions the Sun is capable of.
This is nothing to be alarmed about. The Sun undergoes activity cycles every 11 or so years, from relatively quiet and peaceful, to absolutely rambunctious.
These cycles coincide with fluctuations in the solar magnetic field. When the magnetic field is at its weakest at the poles, the Sun’s magnetic poles switch places, and the polarity of the magnetic field reverses. This is when the Sun is at its most active, known as solar maximum.
We’re right on the cusp of solar maximum. Because the Sun is so enigmatic and difficult to predict, we don’t know precisely when the polarity reversal will occur (scientists can usually only make a ruling after the event), but we do know a rough ballpark: Our current predictions place it in July 2025.
But the current cycle is also a bit strange. Not all solar cycles are built alike; some are stronger, some are weaker. Solar scientists can make predictions about the progression of the solar cycle ahead… but from very early on in the current cycle, which started in December 2019, the Sun’s activity has significantly exceeded expectations and continues to do so.
