Seeing the Difference (January 3, 2014)

With its C2 coronagraph instrument, SOHO captured a blossoming coronal mass ejection as it roared into space from the right side of the Sun (Dec. 28, 2013). SOHO also produces running difference images and movies of the Sun's corona in which the difference between one image and the next (taken about 10 minutes apart) is highlighted.

This technique strongly emphasizes the changes that occurred. Here we have taken a single white light frame and shift it back and forth with a running difference image taken at the same time to illustrate the effect.

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.