The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager this week observed about four or five modest active regions as they rotated with the Sun. Near one of the active regions SOHO observed an eruptive filament.

The video clip over a two-day period (April 17-18, 2006) shows the active regions (which appear as the brighter areas almost lined up across the middle of the Sun) as relatively stable with just a little flaring out here and there.

The eruptive filament began to break apart at about 18:00 on April 17, shown just minutes later in the circled image. This event ejected material and seemed to create a small wave (at least in terms of the immense size of the Sun) of energy that swept to the north of it.

The Sun is producing far fewer CMEs than we have been used to observing in the past years because the Sun is nearing its period of minimum activity. There are fewer active regions and fewer sunspots as well.

Previous Picks of the Week

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.