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An unusual eruption on the Sun may offer clues to

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understanding our star's

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mysterious explosions. Solar eruptions are

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massive releases of material off the

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surface of the Sun.

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This material can travel across the solar system to

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Earth and Mars.

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The radiation in  the material from the Sun can

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interact with the planets' magnetic fields, affecting

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astronauts and technology.

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Eruptions on the Sun usually come in one of three

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forms: coronal mass ejections, jets and partial eruptions.

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The new research studying an event named the

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Rosetta Stone of solar eruptions. Just as the

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Rosetta Stone was the key to understanding

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Egyptian hieroglyphics,

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studying this eruption could be the key to

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understanding all types of solar eruptions.

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In the Rosetta Stone eruption, all three types of

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eruptions happened in the same event.

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They usually occur separately.

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The main eruption was too big to be a jet, but too

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narrow to be a coronal mass ejection.

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A second cooler layer of material on the surface of

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the Sun also started to erupt about a half an hour

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later. But it fell back down as a partial solar eruption.

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This Rosetta Stone of solar eruptions will also give

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clues to help scientists predict large eruptions in

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the future.

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The better our predictions are, the more time we

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have to prepare for material from the Sun to

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interact with Earth's magnetic field.

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Predicting large solar eruptions can help better

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protect astronauts in space and technology on Earth.