P-P-P-Popping Off (January 28, 2011)

Hi-res TIF image (1.8M)

Quicktime Movie: Large ( 14M), Small (1.7M)
MPEG Large (7.0M), Small (4.2M)

Like a drum roll before the big moment, the Sun blasted out numerous smaller blasts of particles to the right before it unleashed a large, bright coronal mass ejection that was associated with an M-1 (medium-sized flare) during the period Jan. 26-28, 2011. SOHO's C2 coronagraph caught all the action. A smaller blast caused by an erupting filament flew out from the Sun's opposite edge almost simultaneously with that blast. In the still, we superimposed a Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) image of the Sun in extreme UV light taken at about the same as the coronagraph image.

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.