Busy Days for Old Sol (January 18, 2013)

Hi-res TIF (1.0M)

Movies: QT: Large ( 23M), Small (4.0M), MPEG: MP4 (5.0M), M4V (1.9M)

The Sun blasted out at least eight coronal mass ejections in all directions over the course of five days (Jan. 9-14, 2013). While none of them was a major storm, the frequency is indicative that the Sun is approaching the period of solar maximum in its solar cycle. The images were taken by the STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft's COR2 coronagraph. The STEREO spacecraft are each more than 120 degrees beyond the Earth-Sun line, so that this is a very different view from the one available from Earth or spacecraft (like SDO) near it. The Sun (here represented by the small white circle) is blocked out by the black 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.