A massive 10,00,000-km-long solar filament erupted from the Sun, triggering powerful flares and CMEs.
In a spectacular display of solar activity, the Sun has released a massive eruption stretching nearly 10,00,000 kilometres – about three times the distance between Earth and the Moon. The dramatic solar filament was spotted by aurora photographer Vincent Ledvina, who captured its bird-wing-like structure as it blasted away from the Sun’s northern hemisphere.
A solar filament is a large, cooler mass of dense plasma held above the Sun’s surface by magnetic fields. Though cooler than its surroundings, it’s still extremely hot and appears dark against the Sun’s bright background. These filaments often form in regions with complex magnetic fields, making them highly unstable.
The eruption marks a sudden burst of activity after weeks of solar calm. According to a report by India Today, the eruption was followed by two major solar flares from opposite sides of the Sun. One was an X1.2-class flare – among the most intense – causing a temporary radio blackout over the Americas. It also released a coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive bubble of solar material, into space. According to NASA, this CME will hit Mercury, skim past Venus, but miss Earth entirely.
What a spectacular CME from the huge filament eruption earlier today! Unfortunately it is directed north and will miss us. A direct hit from a CME like this can be high-end G4 storm material, maybe even G5. https://t.co/StNvwdYyqp pic.twitter.com/nFHPc5F8ap
— Jure Atanackov (@JAtanackov) May 13, 2025
The second flare, slightly less powerful at M5.3-class, disrupted radio signals across Southeast Asia. Scientists believe this event may have also launched a CME that could be partially Earth-directed. However, researchers are awaiting updated imagery from the SOHO solar observatory to confirm its path.
This event is a reminder of the Sun’s unpredictable nature. Just last year, Earth experienced its most powerful geomagnetic storm in two decades, heating the thermosphere to a record 1,150-degree Celsius and disrupting satellite orbits and electrical currents. That storm was closely tracked by NASA’s MMS and THEMIS-ARTEMIS missions.
