The Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported the observation of an unusual optical phenomenon above the Sun, recorded by the LASCO telescope at 10:00 Universal Time. The image obtained from the C2 channel of the solar telescope shows a structure visually resembling a bird or an aircraft with an extended plasma trail.
The size of the supposed "wing" of the object is estimated at approximately 150 thousand kilometers - more than ten times the diameter of the Earth. The height of the object above the solar surface is about two million kilometers.
The researchers clarified that the image was obtained using a CCD detector with a resolution of 1024 by 1024 pixels in the visible spectral range. At the same time, the object is absent in neighboring frames taken at ten-minute intervals before and after, which excludes its prolonged stay in the field of view of the instrument.
The Laboratory notes that such visual formations with a clear structure and a "fiery" trail are extremely rare. For this reason, various hypotheses are being considered, including both optical effects and physical phenomena in the solar corona. A direct interpretation in favor of a shooting artifact or interference requires additional evidence, given the uniqueness of the image.
Such observations are of interest for studying the dynamics of solar plasma and processes in the upper layers of the Sun's atmosphere. They are also important for improving noise filtering algorithms and recognizing real physical objects in telemetry data. Given the rarity of the phenomenon, experts called on colleagues to analyze archival images in order to identify similar structures.
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