The CME the created the 'surfer waves'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSolar physicists are pretty sure that the cause was a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME; see image). Such CMEs occur when the sun seems to “cast off” its outer atmosphere, violently propelling massive amounts of high-speed plasma particles millions of miles into outer space. When they reach Earth in about 7 minutes<\/del> (note: light reaches the Earth in 7nminutes, the plasma takes quite a bit longer), these CMEs can make the space above the Earth unsafe for astronauts and satellites alike. They can also cause major disruptions in utility grids and communication systems down here on the surface.<\/p>\nSo, knowing more about the how the corona is heated — and the conditions that prevail there just before the surfer waves form (indicating a CME) — might give scientist a means of predicting the next CME, and thus taking steps back here on Earth to protect ourselves before the blast’s plasma hits.<\/p>\n
Aside from that, it’s just gnarly science.<\/p>\n
Photos and Video: NASA\/GSFC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Surf’s up big time on the Sun, or just above the sun, in this case. Seems like NASA’s high resolution Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has caught conclusive evidence of classic “surfer waves” in the solar atmosphere — looking just like the kind in the opening sequence of ‘Hawaii Five-O’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[7816,7826,8817,8821,10984,15069,15648,16580,16937,17290,19833,19948,20610,21433,23760,25722,27728,27733,31020,32180,32230,32441,33736,33876,33887,35638,35921,36589],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_video_thumbnail":["http:\/\/planetsave.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dude-surfs-up-on-the-sun-classic.jpg"],"_rpuplugin_enabled":["yes"],"_oembed_f4d47fa668a85bb34cd62ed996cdc684":[" <\/param> <\/param> <\/param><\/embed><\/object>"],"dsq_thread_id":["510048093"],"_oembed_8f91ff9287880244c2e467ede053b6db":["