Scientists Spot 'Tsunami' on the Sun

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Scientists Spot 'Tsunami' on the Sun
The so-called solar tsunami rolls across the Sun after being kicked up by a major flare on Dec. 6, 2006. (Image credit: NSO/AURA/NSF and USAF Research Laboratory via Spaceweather.com)

A major flare on the Sun earlier this week generated what scientists are calling a solar tsunami.

The tsunami-like shock wave, formally called a Moreton wave, rolled across the hot surface, destroying two visible filaments of cool gas on opposite sides of the visible face of the Sun.

 "These large scale 'blast' waves occur infrequently, however, are very powerful," said K. S. Balasubramaniam of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Sunspot, NM, "They quickly propagate in a matter of minutes covering the whole Sun, sweeping away filamentary material."

When another flare erupted Wednesday, the NSO's Optical Solar Patrol Network (OSPAN) was watching.

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Robert Roy Britt
Robert Roy Britt
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Rob has been producing internet content since the mid-1990s. He was a writer, editor and Director of Site Operations at Space.com starting in 1999. He served as Managing Editor of LiveScience since its launch in 2004. He then oversaw news operations for the Space.com's then-parent company TechMediaNetwork's growing suite of technology, science and business news sites. Prior to joining the company, Rob was an editor at The Star-Ledger in New Jersey. He has a journalism degree from Humboldt State University in California, is an author and also writes for Medium.