Gigantic Solar Tornado Released into Space in a Time Lapse Captured from Portugal on 20th April 2023.
On 20th of April 2023, I noticed that the solar chromosphere was featuring a gigantic prominence, so I prepared my solar telescope to start the photo session as I normally do when we have some interesting activity as well as clear and stable sky at Dark Sky® Alqueva region, in Portugal. After about 1h of images, I noticed that this prominence was growing even more which means that probably something bigger as about to happen and I couldn’t imagine that one of my dreams of capturing a Solar Tornado in motion was about to turn into reality. Due to my position on a terrace, my view at this time of the year is blocked after 4:30 PM, so I only had around 1h20m to keep capturing as much images as I could for a time lapse sequence that could show the evolution of this giant of plasma and the incredible moment when it suddenly lifted off, being released into space. According to Spaceweather.com “unlike tornadoes on Earth, which are shaped by wind, tornadoes on the sun are controlled by magnetism. Solar magnetic fields twist in a furious spiral, dragging clouds of plasma around with them. This particular tornado over-twisted, pinched off, and flew straight away from the sun. The debris will not hit Earth.” Here is the animations from NASA SDO and LASCO-c2 (Cactus CME detection) from this same day, showing the same giant as seen from the probe in Space. It seems that Cactus as detected also a CME or at least the release of this Tornado like if it was a CME. The final result is a 4K high resolution solar movie comprising 290 images over the course of about 2h, between UT13h15 and UT15h07.
Licensed Music from Envato: Neon Waves by Marian
Captured and Edited by Miguel Claro. Still imagens and technical details in the link below:
miguelclaro.com/wp/portfolio/solar-tornado-released-into-space-in-a-time-lapse-captured-from-earth-on-20th-april-2023/
