One CME as a Precursor (November 26, 2008)

Hi-res TIF image (1.3M)

MPEG Movie: Large (3.6M)
Quicktime Movie: Large (6.8M), Small (542K)

SOHO observed the Sun unleashed a good-sized coronal mass ejection (CME) blast off to the right (November 23-25, 2008). Over about a two-day period, the bulbous shaped solar storm blossomed, then disappeared from the C2 coronagraph's field of view. It appears to have originated from the far side of the Sun. (CMEs carry about a billion tons of particles into space at millions of miles per hour and carry some of the Sun magnetic field with them.) It is one of the more substantial CMEs that SOHO has observed in many months. As such, it serves as a harbinger of more activity to come as the Sun's overall level of activity begins to climb again. The bright, flattened white light moving right to left under the Sun is the planet Mercury, whose relative brightness for this instrument creates the wide white line optical distortion.

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.