The Sun Puffs
Explanation:
Our Earth endures bursts of particles from the Sun.
On 1997 April 7, at 10 am (EDT), ground monitors of the
SOHO spacecraft,
which continually monitors the Sun,
noticed a weak spot in the solar corona was buckling again,
this time letting loose a large, explosive
Coronal Mass Ejection
(CME).
Almost simultaneously, NASA's
WIND spacecraft
began detecting bursts of
radio waves
from electrons involved in this magnetic storm.
Supersonic waves rippled though the
solar corona as a puff of high energy gas shot out into
the
Solar System.
The above image shows two photographs of the
Sun taken about 15 minutes apart and subtracted,
highlighting the explosion.
CME's are not unusual.
The CME gas had little lasting effect on the Earth, but likely created fleeting,
if not
picturesque, Earth
auroras.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
