Solar Coronal Mass Ejection (2003)

Our Sun will sometimes, for reasons not entirely understood, eject huge amounts of matter, mostly electrons and protons, from its atmosphere, the "corona". These are known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This one occurred on 2 December 2003.

These are studied through a special camera on NASA's solar-orbiting observatory, SOHO. The camera (called "LASCO") has an occulting disk to block out the bright sphere of the sun so that the relatively dim corona can be observed. The red disk in this photo is the occulting disk, over which a separate image of the sun has been placed at the correct scale.

Credit: Courtesy of SOHO/LASCO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. [source].

Flickr page for this photo.

Visit the Eye for Science Flickr group.

Get the "Eye for Science" widget here and install it on your own blog. Spread the scienticity!

Like this image? Want it for your smartphone wallpaper?
Use this QR Code to load it on your smartphone and enjoy!