Call it a Dozen (March 2, 2012)

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Over five days (February 23-28, 2012) the Sun produced about a dozen solar eruptions, launched from the top, bottom, left and right sides of the solar disk. Four of those eruptions came in just a 24-hour period on Feb. 23. One of the eruptions, a snaking filament, erupted during the early hours of February 24, 2012 and launched the first of two coronal mass ejections (CME) in Earth's direction. These images are taken by SOHO's C3 coronagraph, in which the Sun is blocked by a blue disk and its size is represented by the white circle. Some colorful aurora were seen at higher latitudes when the CME associated with the erupting filament arrived and hit Earth with a glancing blow on Feb. 27.

SOHO began its Weekly Pick some time after sending a weekly image or video clip to the American Museum of Natural History (Rose Center) in New York City. There, the SOHO Weekly Pick is displayed with some annotations on a large plasma display.

If your institution would also like to receive the same Weekly Pick from us for display (usually in Photoshop or QuickTime format), please send your inquiry to steele.hill@gsfc.nasa.gov.