Solar Storm Near Earth Caused by March 15, 2013 Fast CME
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- Visualizations by:
- Tom Bridgman
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On March 15, 2013, at 2:54 a.m. EDT, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space and can reach Earth one to three days later and affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 900 miles per second, which is a fairly fast speed for CMEs. Historically, CMEs at this speed have caused mild to moderate effects at Earth.
Update: On March 17, 2013, at 1:28 a.m. EDT, the coronal mass ejection (CME) from March 15 passed by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as it approached Earth. Upon interacting with the giant magnetic bubble surrounding Earth, the magnetosphere, the CME caused a kind of solar storm known as a geomagnetic storm. The storm initially caused a mild storm rated on NOAA's geomagnetic storm scales as a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5, and subsequently subsided to a G1. In the past, storms of this strength have caused auroras near the poles but have not disrupted electrical systems on Earth or interfered with GPS or satellite-based communications systems.
The ESA and NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured these images of the sun spitting out a coronal mass ejection (CME) on March 15, 2013, from 3:24 to 4:00 a.m. EDT. This type of image is known as a coronagraph, since a disk is placed over the sun to better see the dimmer atmosphere around it, called the corona.
Credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO
The ESA and NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured these images of the sun spitting out a coronal mass ejection (CME) on March 15, 2013, from 3:24 to 4:00 a.m. EDT. This type of image is known as a coronagraph, since a disk is placed over the sun to better see the dimmer atmosphere around it, called the corona. No Labels
Credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animator
- Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
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Writer
- Karen Fox (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
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Video editor
- Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Producer
- Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Tapes
This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:-
2013 Heliophysics Breaking News
(ID: 2013021)
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at 5:00AM
Produced by - Robert Crippen
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ID: 11226 Produced Video
STEREO Watches the Sun Blast Comet PanSTARRS
Read moreThis movie from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) shows comet PanSTARRS as it moved around the sun from March 10-15,2013 (repeated three times). The images were captured by the Heliospheric Imager (HI), an instrument that looks to the side of the sun to watch coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as they travel toward Earth, which is the unmoving bright orb on the right. The bright light on the left comes from the sun and the bursts from the left represent the solar material erupting off the sun in a CME. While it appears from STEREO's point of view that the CME passes right by the comet, the two are not lying in the same plane, which scientists know since the comet's tail didn't move or change in response to the CME's passage. ||
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ID: 4056 Visualization
The CME of March 15, 2013
Read moreThe CME launched from the Sun on March 15, 2013 was modelled at the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. These model runs are used for testing various space weather models and for protecting NASA assets (spacecraft AND astronauts) throughout the Solar System.Different colors of a red, green, blue color palette are used to designate different physical variables from the simulation. When the three colors combine, they create a dramatic example of how the coronal mass ejection (CME) is different from the solar wind. ||
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