August 31, 2012 Magnificent CME

  • Released Tuesday, September 4, 2012
  • Updated Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 2:01PM
  • ID: 11095

On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow. causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.
Image of the Earth to scale with the filament eruption.  Note: the Earth is not this close to the sun, this image is for scale purposes only.

Image of the Earth to scale with the filament eruption. Note: the Earth is not this close to the sun, this image is for scale purposes only.

The August 31 2012 coronal mass ejection shown in four different extreme ultraviolet wavelengths at 19:49 UT.  Clockwise from upper left, the wavelengths are: 335, 171, 131, 304 angstroms.

The August 31 2012 coronal mass ejection shown in four different extreme ultraviolet wavelengths at 19:49 UT. Clockwise from upper left, the wavelengths are: 335, 171, 131, 304 angstroms.

Short video of the CME in 304 and 171 and a cropped still of the CME in 304.

An overlay blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.

An overlay blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.

An overlay blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.  Cropped.

An overlay blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths. Cropped.

A lighten blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.

A lighten blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths.

A lighten blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths. Cropped.

A lighten blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths. Cropped.

Long frame sequences and 4k ProRes video of the filament eruption and CME in 304. The frame rate is one frame every 36 seconds.

Long frame sequences and 4k ProRes video of the filament eruption and CME in 171. The frame rate is one frame every 36 seconds.

A short frame sequence and still of the main part of the filament eruption and CME in 131. The frame rate is one frame every 36 seconds.

A short frame sequence and still of the main part of the filament eruption and CME in 335. The frame rate is one frame every 36 seconds.

A short frame sequence and still of the main part of the filament eruption and CME in 193. The frame rate is one frame every 36 seconds.



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center


Missions

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Series

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Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • None


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