Up Close and Personal With a Monster Solar Eruption

Recently, a gargantuan explosion on the Sun — perhaps approaching the power of a billion hydrogen bombs — propelled many tens of billions of tons of particles out into space at 1.5 million miles per hour. As dramatic as this solar eruption may sound, it is not terribly unusual. It's called a coronal mass ejection, and it is a normal aspect of the sun's activity. But one thing about this particular CME, which occurred on May 9, does stand out: It was the first ever observed by a new NASA spacecraft — and in such breathtakingly closeup detail that when you watch the video above you'll almost feel like you had a ring-side seat. (WARNING: You might also feel like your hair is about to catch fire...) The spacecraft is called the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. Launched in June of 2013, IRIS is designed to see into the lowest levels ...