Earth-Size Tornadoes On The Sun

What a sight to behold. Earlier this month, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) beamed back stunning images of the sun’s plasma moving violently around the star’s magnetic field for 30 some hours, creating a tornado as large as the Earth itself, with gusts reaching up to 300,000 miles per hour. That’s according to Terry Kucera, a solar physicist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. NPR has more on the makings of solar storms. Find more awe-inspiring footage in our collection of 125 Great Science Videos.