Aggregated Awareness

From Fox News comes this report on an August 1st eruption of a filament of plasma blasting off the Sun's surface. This plasma mass ejection is apparently heading straight for Earth. It can be seen as the dark mass in the top right of the picture. The bright light is an unrelated solar flare.

According to a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics spokesperson, the coronal mass ejection is heading towards Earth, and will arrive here "early in the day on Aug. 4", which as of this posting starts now.

Excerpt: "...The Sun's surface erupted early Sunday morning, shooting a wall of ionized atoms directly at Earth, scientists say. It is expected to create a geomagnetic storm and a spectacular light show -- and it could pose a threat to satellites in orbit, as well.

"This eruption is directed right at us and is expected to get here early in the day on Aug. 4," said Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

"It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time."

The solar eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, was spotted by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which captures high-definition views of the sun at a variety of wavelengths.

SDO was launched in February and peers deep into the layers of the sun, investigating the mysteries of its inner workings.

"We got a beautiful view of this eruption," Golub said. "And there might be more beautiful views to come if it triggers aurorae."..."

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