Solar Filament Eruption Unveils ‘Canyon of Fire’ on the Sun

On September 29-30, 2013, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a remarkable solar event where a 200,000-mile-long filament erupted from the Sun’s surface. This eruption left behind a structure resembling a “canyon of fire,” tracing the channel where magnetic fields had previously held the filament aloft. Such filaments consist of dense, cooler plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface by magnetic forces. Their eruptions can lead to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which, if directed toward Earth, have the potential to disrupt satellite communications and power grids.