SDO Observes Massive Eruption, Scorching Rain

"SDO has just observed a massive eruption on the sun—one of the biggest in years," says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington DC. "The footage is not only dramatic, but also could solve a longstanding mystery of solar physics."

Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab is leading the analysis. "We can see a billion tons of magnetized plasma blasting into space while debris from the explosion falls back onto the sun surface. These may be our best data yet."

A couple of tediously-buffering vids:

http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2010/04/27/AIA_20100419_1200_2100_304_hihres.mov

http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2010/04/27/AIA_20100419_1200_2100_304_211_171_hihres.mov