Massive eruption creates 250,000-mile-long 'volcanic canyon' on the Sun's surface

On July 15, a giant filament of gas erupted from the sun's northeastern edge, reshaping part of our star's surface and, albeit briefly, releasing a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space.

Detailed video of "volcanic canyon" on the surface of the Sun

The explosion was so powerful that it created a trail of hot plasma more than 250,000 miles (about 400,000 km) long, nearly the distance from Earth to the Moon.

The eruption was captured in incredible detail by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), showing the filament of gas unraveling as solar material arced and poured through the sun's atmosphere. As the filament collapsed, it left behind what some have called a " fire canyon ," with towering walls estimated to be at least 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers) high, according to Spaceweather.com.

According to NASA , these glowing cracks form when the Sun's magnetic field lines suddenly fracture and realign after an eruption, leaving behind a trench of hot plasma that traces the reshaping magnetic field.

This fiery crater is more than just a visual treat. According to NOAA, plasma filaments are colder, denser bands of solar plasma that are suspended above the Sun's surface by magnetic fields. When they become unstable, they can erupt violently, sometimes launching coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space—powerful jets of solar plasma and magnetic fields that can trigger geomagnetic storms on Earth.

Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the GOES-19 satellite show that although the filamentary eruption released a CME, none of the components were directed toward Earth.

' The CME is heading away from Earth ,' wrote aurora hunter Vincent Ledvina in a post on X. ' Here is the CME in LASCO C2 (left) and CCOR-1 (right), with the latter frame of the CME being more widespread. The front is moving quite slowly and heading away from Earth. '

David Pac

Update 21 July 2025