Watch The Sun Launch A Giant Solar Filament Into Space

Watch The Sun Launch A Giant Solar Filament Into Space
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NASA's Solar & Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO has captured the moment a massive filament is thrown from the Sun's surface.

The footage shows the giant filament being flung out into the far reaches of space. Solar filaments are not the same as solar flares.

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While a flare originates from the physical surface of the Sun, filaments are simply the huge swathes of solar material (mostly plasma) that are suspended above the surface due to the huge magnetic forces being created by the star.

Highly unstable, the filaments are in a constant state of shift and can be thrown out into space with little to no warning.