Outburst Series (December 20, 2013)

Hi-res TIF (7.0M)

Movies: QT: Large ( 18M), Small (1.8M)
MP4 Large ( 16M), Small (8.6M)

The Sun blasted at least half a dozen coronal mass ejections into space over a five-day period this past week (Dec. 13-17, 2013). These were taken the STEREO (Ahead) COR2 coronagraphs. The Sun, represented by the white circle, is blocked by the black occulting disk so that we can see the much fainter structures in the corona. Since the Sun is near its maximum level of activity, such a series of outbursts is fairly common. The still features four of these CMEs in order that they occurred (clockwise from the upper left).

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.