Flares and More Flares (March 23, 2012)

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Over the course of three days (Mar. 5-7, 2012), a single, large active region blasted out over a dozen solar flares. STEREO (Behind) spacecraft caught the action in extreme UV light. Saving the best for last, it erupted with an X5 flare (X is the largest category) and a storm of charged particles as part of a coronal mass ejection. We'll be tracking this region around the far side of the Sun with STEREO and be ready if the Sun's rotation carries the existing activity back into view around March 28th. The particles near the end of the clip look like a mass of squiggling amoeba, a distortion caused by STEREO’s image processing. And note, a large prominence dancing above the edge of the Sun adds a nice touch to the video.

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.