On February 17th, a plasma jet erupted near the Sun's south pole, reaching an altitude of 200,000 kilometers before detaching and drifting into space. This massive plasma cloud is now slowly dissipating as it travels through the cosmos. Unlike most solar flares that occur near the equator, the unusual location of this flare signals the Sun's approach to the most active phase of its 11-year cycle, known as the solar maximum.
📷 Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau for @science
📷 Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau for @science