Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


A Solar Corona Ejection
<< Yesterday 8.11.1996 Tomorrow >>
A Solar Corona Ejection
Credit & Copyright: SOON Telescope, Holloman AFB, NOAA
Explanation: The Sun would not be a nice place to spend the summer. One reason, besides the extreme heat, is that explosions are common there. In the above picture, magnetic fields buckle releasing previously constrained hot material from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. As a result, hot gas streams out into the Solar System, impacting planets, moons, spacecraft, and making space a dangerous place for astronauts. Known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), billions of tons of scathing plasma can be accelerated to millions of miles per hour. CMEs are more common but less intense than solar flares.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < November 1996  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su




123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930
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.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day