NASA satellite sees incredible twister explode from the Sun

Just two days after NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an immense coronal mass ejection blast away from the Sun on Wednesday, it captured another spectacular event — an incredible solar eruption that looks like a twister on the surface of the Sun.

Unlike a twister on Earth, that forms from the clouds down, this formed from the surface up, with the intense plasma curling around on itself as it was thrown off by the powerful explosion. Astronomer Phil Plait, of the Bad Astronomy blog, gives a great explanation of the event.

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With the Sun possibly approaching a second peak in its 11-year cycle, we could be seeing many more events like this in the months to come, and it's great that we have the Solar Dynamics Observatory in orbit so that we don't miss the show.

(Video courtesy: Phil Plait/Bad Astronomer)

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