Widely Blossoming CME (September 14, 2012)

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Movies: QT (large) ( 31M), QT (medium) (5.1M), QT (small) (447K), MPEG ( 11M), MP4 (2.7M), M4V (521K),

STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft caught this bright and blossoming coronal mass ejection (CME) as it blasted out into space over about one day (Sept. 10-11, 2012). In these coronagraphs the Sun (represented by the white circle) is blocked out by the dark disk so that the fainter features in the corona can be observed. It's like a man-made eclipse. CME's carry over a billion tons of particles into space at a million miles per hour. This larger event was followed by a smaller CME that heads up and to the left.

Hi-res TIF (1.8M)

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.