By Emily Gu

In March 2016, an eruption on the surface of the sun occurred. And this was no ordinary solar eruption: It had given scientists valuable information on how solar eruptions worked.

This was important, since solar eruptions could cause damage to Earth’s magnetic fields, and the things we send into space, such as satellites and even the astronauts.

The known forms of solar eruptions are: Jets, partial eruptions, and Coronal Mass Ejections. (CME) Jets and CME’s are large, and both explosive, ejections of energy and solar material. They shoot this mixture into the solar system. Partial eruptions are much smaller, and don’t gather enough energy to launch off of the sun’s surface.

The Rosetta Stone eruption was, seemingly, a mix of all three eruptions. The sun had started erupting fiery celestial matter, which was too wide to be a jet but too thin to be a CME. It also couldn’t have been a partial eruption, since those are much weaker. A smaller eruption took place a bit after the first few in the same spot.

NASA researchers have discovered that all three eruptions had occurred due to the same mechanism. They have hypothesized that the power of the explosions was reduced over time by the mechanism.

“This event is a missing link, where we can see all aspects of different types of eruptions in one neat little package,” solar scientist Emily Mason said. “It drives home the point that these eruptions are caused by the same mechanism, just at different scales.”

NASA still has to improve their understanding on solar eruptions more, such as their intensity and the causes. This way they could be able to predict when and where they happen, so astronauts, space agencies, and corporations have more time to take measures to protect themselves.