Sun  ID: 4177

As Seen by STEREO-A: The Carrington-Class CME of 2012

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on July 23, 2014
STEREO-A, at a position along Earth's orbit where it has an unobstructed view of the far side of the Sun, could clearly observe possibly the most powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) of solar cyle 24 on July 23, 2012. The visualizations on this page cover the entire day.

We see the flare erupt in the lower right quadrant of the solar disk from a large active region. The material is launched into space in a direction towards STEREO-A. This creates the ring-like 'halo' CME visible in the STEREO-A coronagraph, COR-2 (blue circular image).

As the CME expands beyond the field of view of the COR-2 imager, the high energy particles reach STEREO-A, creating the snow-like noise in the image. The particles also strike the HI-2 imager (blue square) brightening the image.

The HI-1 imager has had 'bloom removal' enabled and filled with contents of the immediately previous HI-1 image, which creates a linear artifact above and below bright stars and planets.
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A bright flare erupts from an active region in this image from STEREO-A 304 angstrom ultraviolet filter.
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The resulting coronal mass ejection (CME) erupts in a 'halo' form, suggesting the CME could be heading away from, or toward, the STEREO-A spacecraft. This image is a combination of the EUVI 304 angstrom images and the STEREO-A COR2 coronagraph.
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In this composite of EUVI 304 angstrom, COR2 and the Heliospheric Imager-1 (HI-1), we see particle hits of solar protons and other heavy ions striking the CCD and also appearing in the HI-1 imager.
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In this composite of EUVI 304 angstrom, COR-2 and the Heliospheric Imager-1 (HI-1), we see the CME expanding in COR-2. The planet Mercury is labeled. The other bright objected in HI-1, below the line between Mercury and the sun, is the star Antares in the constellation Scorpius.
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A bright flare erupts in an active region in this image from STEREO-A 195 angstrom ultraviolet filter.
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A bright flare erupts from an active region in this image from STEREO-A 304 angstrom ultraviolet filter. Long version.
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The resulting coronal mass ejection (CME) erupts in a 'halo' form, suggesting the CME could be heading away from, or toward, the STEREO-A spacecraft. This image is a combination of the EUVI 304 angstrom images and the STEREO-A COR2 coronagraph. Long version.
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In this composite of EUVI 304 angstrom, COR2 and the Heliospheric Imager-1 (HI-1), we see particle hits of solar protons and other heavy ions striking the CCD and also appearing in the HI-1 imager. Long version.
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In this composite of EUVI 304 angstrom, COR-2 and the Heliospheric Imager-1 (HI-1), we see the CME expanding in COR-2. The planet Mercury is labeled. The other bright objected in HI-1, below the line between Mercury and the sun, is the star Antares in the constellation Scorpius. Long version.
 

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As Seen by SDO: The Carrington-Class CME of 2012
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As Seen by STEREO-B: The Carrington-Class CME of 2012

For More Information

Science@NASA

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Joe Gurman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4177

Missions:
SDO
STEREO

Data Used:
STEREO-A/Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)
2012-07-22T00:00:00 - 2012-07-24T23:59:59
view all stories where this data set is used
STEREO-A/Coronograph 2 (COR2)
2012-07-22T00:00:00 - 2012-07-24T23:59:59
view all stories where this data set is used
STEREO-A/Heliospheric Imager 1 (HI-1)
2012-07-22T00:00:00 - 2012-07-24T23:59:59
view all stories where this data set is used
STEREO/Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)/195 Angstroms
2012-07-22T00:00:00 - 2012-07-24T23:59:59
view all stories where this data set is used
STEREO/Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)/304 Angstroms
2012-07-22T00:00:00 - 2012-07-24T23:59:59
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
The Carrington-Class CME of 2012

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Flares
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Ultraviolet
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> STEREO
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Coronal Mass Ejections
SVS >> Visible Light Imaging
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0

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Appeared on "The Today Show", July 26, 2014