Watch: Amateur Photographer Records "Unusual" Solar Storm On Surface of Sun

A solar storm that reaches as far out from the Sun as four entire Earths was discovered by telescope by an amateur photographer. 

The video shared on social media by hobbyist astronomical photographer Chuck Ayoub shows the clouds of solar plasma barely moving over the period of an hour, possibly being held up by the Sun's magnetic field. In the caption, Mr Ayoub said that this is “unusual” and further claimed that in his experience, solar storms “dance” a lot more than this one seems to. 

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A post shared by Chuck Ayoub (@chucksastrophotography)

The caption read, “I was not expecting this when I captured the sun. I pointed my telescope at this very unusual solar storm yesterday. An ongoing battle between the sun's changing magnetic fields has caused this plasma storm to rise and appear almost locked in place, unable to move.”

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According to Newsweek, solar storms are large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the surface of the Sun. They occur in active areas of the Sun where the magnetic fields are particularly strong and can range from solar flares to coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Solar flares just emit light and other electromagnetic radiation and CMEs, on the other hand, involve the significant release of plasma from the Sun's outer corona layer. 

Why the storm recorded in Mr Ayoub's video is so static is still unclear. A solar flare only poses a threat if it is directed toward Earth. It can impact power grids, radio communications, and navigational systems and can even pose a serious threat to any spacecraft's launching or even astronauts housed on the International Space Station. 

Back in April, the American space agency NASA also managed to capture an image of a solar flare using its Solar Dynamics Observatory. The same month, CESSI which is the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences (India), reported that there was a potentially dangerous solar flare that can disrupt satellite communications and global positioning systems. 

Also Read | NASA Releases Stunning Image Of Solar Flare

Solar flares themselves do not impact human beings negatively, they can only cause havoc to the technology due to the release of magnetic energy.