PICK OF THE WEEK
Pick of The Week
A Fine Blossoming (February 10, 2003)
Hi-resolution Image
(TIF,3.0M)
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During a day long period from 2 - 3 February 2003, no less than three
CMEs blossomed away from the Sun from what appear to be two different
sources. What makes the video clip of these storms so impressive is
the fine details of movement that the LASCO C2 instrument was able to
observe. What accounts for this? Because SOHO is controlled with
daily commands from Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and some
other instruments were taking a necessary break, solar scientists
directed it to take advantage of an opportunity to use more signal
bandwith: it took an image an average of every 7.5 minutes, about
twice its usual cadence. So for the 28 hours shown in the clip, we
get to use 200 frames shown here at 15 frames a second. The graceful
outpouring of charged particles along barely perceptible structural
lines is ballet-like . Yet, we must remember the scope and power
this represents: billions of tons of matter blasting at over a
million miles (1.6 million km) per hour.
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. |
