Eruption lights up sun's surface

A spot on the face of the sun cut loose with an impressive eruption Tuesday, but observers don't think it will amount to much on Earth.

Tuesday's coronal mass ejection spewed tons of gas and radioactive material into space in the general direction of Earth. (You can watch a video of it here.) The solar material is expected to reach Earth sometime Friday, when it may trigger spectacular polar light shows, said Dr. Tony Phillips of Spaceweather.com. Ejections of this size can also cause minor radio interruptions in polar regions, according to the site.

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