NASA scientists have spotted a strange solar vortex near the Sun’s northern pole. The vortex appears to be part of a huge filament of solar plasma that broke away from the Sun’s surface and is now circling the north pole like a tornado. Unfortunately, scientists have no idea what caused the vortex.
Attention was first brought to the strange solar vortex when Dr. Tamitha Skov posted on Twitter, sharing images taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory. While it is exciting, the cause of the vortex does have many scratching their heads in bewilderment.
The sun follows an 11-year solar cycle, and according to McIntosh, this vortex has appeared at the 55-degree latitude mark once every single cycle we have observed. So while this particular event isn’t unique, it is certainly unusual and worth paying attention to. McIntosh and his team are currently working on a paper that will be published in The Astrophysical Journal which takes a closer look at this event.
As for what caused the solar plasma to break away from the Sun’s surface and form a vortex, that is still a mystery. Scientists have several theories but nothing has been confirmed. It is possible that the filament became unstable and broke away due to changes in the Sun’s magnetic field. Alternatively, it could be due to interactions with another object in space such as a comet or asteroid.
This is a fascinating event that scientists are still trying to wrap their heads around. It is possible that the filament became unstable and broke away due to changes in the Sun’s magnetic field or interactions with another object in space such as a comet or asteroid. Regardless of the cause, it is an exciting event to observe!
