EXPLORE FURTHER: Researchers unveil the most intricate image of our Sun ever captured.
NASA
has unveiled a new footage of Earth’s sun, showing a massive ‘sphere’ passing by the glowing star.
The video has become extremely popular, with conspiracy theorists asserting that the massive object is a
UFO
, indicating how it ‘came to a halt, lingered for a moment,
shifted nearer to the sun
‘, and then disappeared from view.
“I suppose we’ll simply have to accept having no explanations—and observe as this gets brushed aside, much like the numerous unidentified aerial phenomena we witness daily,” a user commented on X.
Others proposed that the cosmic event led to the huge power outage.
outage
plaguing
Spain
,
France
and Portugal.
However, the footage
displayed the moon obscuring the sun
during a ‘lunar transit’ observable only from space.
On Sunday, the moon obscured 23 percent of the sun during a partial eclipse, an event visible solely to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which is presently engaged in the study of our planet’s star.
The footage depicts the moon as a dark silhouette within the shot, gliding across the blazing sun. In another segment provided by NOAA, the moon appears as an illuminated sphere hurtling swiftly through the cosmos.
NASA’s SDO also managed to capture images of the Moon’s mountainous terrain during the recording of this event.
A lunar transit differs from a solar eclipse as it isn’t visible from Earth. Rather, during a lunar transit, a spacecraft such as NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory records the Moon moving across the Sun or some other celestial body it is monitoring.
At these occurrences, the moon shows up as a dark disc gliding over the illuminated area observed by the observatory—a phenomenon that has occasionally been confused with an unidentified flying object close to the sun.
The latest lunar transit was approximately 30 minutes long and will be succeeded by additional events on April 28, May 25, and July 25.
Based on NASA, during the last passage in this sequence, the Moon will obscure 62 percent of the Sun’s surface.
On the contrary, the subsequent solar eclipse observable from Earth will be
set for September 21, 2025, however, it will only be visible from certain areas in New Zealand, the South Pacific region, and Antarctica.
NASA’s SDO has been
watching the Sun for 15 years after launching on February 11, 2010.
The aim is to constantly observe the sun, capturing detailed photos and video footage of both the solar surface and its atmosphere.
The SDO investigates phenomena like sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with the aim of enhancing our comprehension of how solar dynamics influence space weather near Earth.
The SDO remains fairly near to Earth and constantly transmits comprehensive images of the Sun.
Earlier this month, the spacecraft
snapped intense solar flares bursting out
from the sun’s surface.
These eruptions
initiated a G3-level geomagnetic storm, sparking worries regarding potential disruptions to electrical grids spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest areas of the United States.
A geomagnetic storm refers to a brief disruption of our planet’s magnetic field.
triggered by a huge eruption of solar plasma from the Sun’s exterior region
.
Soon after the storm reached its height,
over 1.4 million individuals in Puerto Rico
Lost electricity on April 16, when the whole island was shrouded in darkness.
Regional electricity providers announced a network-wide outage at approximately 12:40 PM locally, which occurred simultaneously with the height of the geomagnetic storm.
Dr. Tamitha Skov, an independent space weather physicist, informed Technology that the blackout happened nearly concurrently with the escalation of the storm to G4 intensity levels, which is categorized as ‘severe’ on a five-tier scale ranging from G1 to G5.
A G4 geomagnetic storm has the potential to create significant disturbances by producing geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). These currents can overwhelm transformers and vital components of power grid infrastructures.
Authorities had cautioned that this kind of storm might disrupt power management systems, possibly causing automated shut downs in certain areas of the grid to prevent harm.
Josué Colón, who serves as Puerto Rico’s energy secretary and previously was the executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, stated that although just one generator ought to have activated its protection mechanism, the whole power grid collapsed following a malfunction within the transmission infrastructure.
Dr. Skov further noted, “The additional strain from GICs probably exacerbated an already vulnerable system, particularly when electricity consumption was at its zenith during midday.”
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