A massive column of plasma recently erupted from the southern pole of the sun, where solar flares occur infrequently. The eruption captured by an astrophotographer in stunning detail is another sign that the sun is on the verge of entering its most active phase, known as solar maximum.
This rare phenomenon occurred on February 17, when a solar flare erupted from a sunspot near the sun's southern pole, resulting in the release of a massive column of ionized gas, or plasma, which rose about 200,000 km (124,300 miles) above the sun's surface, roughly 15 times the length of Earth.
