Unique Blasting (March 1, 2013)

Hi-res TIF (1.1M)

Movies: QT: Large ( 12M), Small (915K), MPEG: Large ( 17M), MP4 (5.1M), M4V (1.9M)

The Sun blasted out five coronal mass ejections (CMEs) over about two days (Feb. 26-28, 2013) and each one had quite a different shape and structure. The most interesting one (seen in still below) blew out to the right with a bright, elongated center, likely part of a solar filament, that maintained its curly-Q shape as it expanded out of view. The images were taken by SOHO LASCO C2 coronagraph. The Sun is represented by the white circle and the red disk blocks out the Sun and part of the corona.

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.