Breaking Away (March 27, 2010)

Hi-res TIF image (2.9M)

Quicktime Movie: Large (8.9M), Small (935K)
MPEG Movie (3.4M)

No less than three prominences erupted over a nine-hour period (Mar. 13-14, 2010) as the STEREO (Behind) spacecraft captured the action in an extreme UV wavelength of light. Prominences, which are cooler clouds of gas tethered to the Sun by magnetic forces, often become unstable and break away out into space. But, it is rare to see three of them erupt in such a short span of time. Prominences are most easily spotted in this wavelength of light (304 Angstroms). STEREO takes an image every 10 minutes with each of its two spacecraft, so we do have good coverage of prominence activity. Looking ahead to next month, though, the Solar Dynamics Observatory will be taking an image every 10 seconds in this wavelength, providing us with exquisite details and very smooth motion.

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.