One small (comparatively speaking) puff (April 24, 2009)

Hi-res TIF image (2.6M)

MPEG Movie: Large (1.5M)
Quicktime Movie: Large (4.7M), Small (1.7M)

SOHO's C3 coronagraph captured a fairly small coronal mass ejection (CME) as it blossomed to the left from the Sun (April 17-18, 2009) over an 18-hour period. But it still got our attention because this is the first well-defined CME we have seen in weeks. It maintained a CMEs classic bulbous shape as it expanded out into space. The white circle represents the size of the Sun and the blue area behind that is the occulting disk that lets us see the faint structures in the sun's corona. Though on the small side, it still carried a billion tons of particles at something like a million miles per hour.

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.