Comet Pan-STARRS from Space (March 22, 2013)

Hi-res TIF (1.8M)

Movies: QT: Large (9.6M), Small (1.2M),
MPEG: MP4 (5.5M), M4V (1.5M)

The Sun blasted out a broad and sizeable coronal mass ejection (CME), and then followed that with a very slowly developing, narrow eruption that went just about due north (Mar. 17-18, 2013). The images were taken by the STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft. The still image shows the larger, bulbous front of the expanding CME. The Sun (here represented by the small white circle) is blocked out by the larger occulting disk so that the faint features in the Sun's corona can be imaged.

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.