Surf's Up... On the Sun!?

The Sun has been amazing us all week. First there a massive explosion; then we learned it's magnetic field created a froth of magnetic bubbles at the edge of the Solar System; And now it has been discovered that there are "surfer waves" on the Sun. Whoa, dude...

Surfer waves -- initiated in the sun, as they are in the water, by a process called a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability -- have been found in the sun's atmosphere. Credit: NASA/SDO/Astrophysical Journal Letters

I wouldn't suggest trying out your "hang 10" on these waves though. Besides being the surface of the Sun, the waves are about the size of the continental U.S. and moving at some insane speeds. The waves were discovered by the amazing Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which took the video of the explosion earlier this week. This nifty craft, launched in February 2010, has definitely been earning its keep.

The waves were discovered soon after the SDO began taking images in March 2010. The science team has been hard at work learning about these waves and have just published their paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. You can find all the nitty gritty physics there if you want. This video is also fairly informative:

The waves are caused by the same effect that creates classic "surfing waves" in water, known as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Its effect can also be seen in clouds and on other planets. It is expected that this discovery will explain how energy moves through the atmosphere, or corona, of the Sun and initiates events like Coronal Mass Ejections.

So enjoy your weekends everyone. Maybe you'll catch some Sun and waves down at the beach? Our forcast is calling for thunderstorms all weekend...

Posted in SDO,Sun,Waves 19 comments