X4.9 Flare Erupts along with associated CME (February 28, 2014)

An active region at the edge of the Sun blew out an X4.9 flare (one of the largest of the current solar activity cycle) and a coronal mass ejection (CME) early on Feb. 25, 2014. In this combination movie, one can observe an eruptive prominence associated with the flare leaving the Sun and watch the ensuing cloud as it expands into space. The "snowstorm" of radiation goes on for many hours afterwards as the particles hit SOHO's CCD imagers. The video clip covers about 30 hours of activity. The Sun in extreme UV is from the SDO spacecraft and the red and blue coronagraph cameras (in white light) are from SOHO.

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.