PICK OF THE WEEK
Pick of The Week
Seven Flares in Two Days (February 26, 2002)
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SOHO observed seven M-class flares erupting from the Sun in just two
days, Feb. 21-22, 2002. The LASCO C2 video clip shows the coronal
mass ejections (CMEs) associated with the flares as they blast
through the Sun's corona. Flares are intense releases of energy from
a localized region on the Sun in the form of electromagnetic
radiation, energetic particles, and mass motions. The M-class flares
are second in power to the strongest X-class variety. The spikes of
radiation from each flare were registered in the plot above by the
GOES spacecraft which orbits near the Earth. The X-rays, gamma-rays,
and other light emitted by the flares sped from the Sun at the speed
of light and arrived here in approximately 8 minutes; particles
accelerated by CMEs take can take much longer as they spiral around
interplanetary magnetic field lines. Just as the ionosphere protects
from harmful X-, gamma-, and EUV radiation, our magnetosphere
protects us from the energetic particles. 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. |
