The Solar Tsunami

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft have provided evidence that Solar Tsunamis are real.

The NASA report 'Monster Waves on the Sun are Real' says

Sometimes you really can believe your eyes. That's what NASA's STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft are telling researchers about a controversial phenomenon on the sun known as the "solar tsunami."

Years ago, when solar physicists first witnessed a towering wave of hot plasma racing along the sun's surface, they doubted their senses.

The scale of the thing was staggering. It rose up higher than Earth itself and rippled out from a central point in a circular pattern millions of kilometers in circumference. Skeptical observers suggested it might be a shadow of some kind—a trick of the eye—but surely not a real wave.

"Now we know," says Joe Gurman of the Solar Physics Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Solar tsunamis are real."

• "Tsunami waves can also improve our forecasting of space weather," adds Vourlidas, "Like a bull-eye, they 'mark the spot' where an eruption takes place. Pinpointing the blast site can help us anticipate when a CME or radiation storm will reach Earth."

Read the full NASA report with pictures and movies at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/
24nov_solartsunami.htm

Thanks to George Boorer ZL3PN for spotting this item.