Active Region 649, a large sunspot group that is just appearing around the left side of the Sun, holds the promise of being a solar storm maker. The stacks of three stills from three wavelengths of ultraviolet light taken at about the same times on July 9, 11 and 13 show the brightness and, thus, the location of the strong magnetic field above the sunspot region. When viewed in profile, the region's far-reaching magnetic field can be seen stretching well beyond the surface of the Sun. Whether it is growing or shrinking remains to be seen. The movie below shows one coronal mass ejection (CME) that blasted out from this region on July 12. More of the same can be expected. And as a bonus feature, another sunspot, still on the backside of the Sun, should be visible rounding the edge around July 17th. Keep your eyes to the skies here with SOHO.

Previous Picks of the Week

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.