Comparing CMEs

  • Released Thursday, September 25, 2014
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This video features two model runs. One looks at a moderate coronal mass ejection (CME) from 2006. The second run examines the consequences of a large coronal mass ejection, such as The Carrington-Class CME of 1859. These model runs allow us to estimate consequences of a large event hitting Earth, so we can better protect power grids and satellites.

In an effort to understand and predict the impact of space weather events on Earth, the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, routinely runs computer models of the many historical events. These model runs are then compared to actual data to determine ways to improve the model, and therefore forecasts of future space weather events.

Sometimes we need an actual event to have data for comparison. Extreme space weather events are one example where researchers must test models with a rather limited set of data.

The vertical lines on the left represent magnetic field lines from the sun.

Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.

For complete transcript, click here.

Watch the CME as a GIF

Watch the CME as a GIF

Credits

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

This page was originally published on Thursday, September 25, 2014.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:50 PM EDT.

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • Comparing Coronal Mass Ejections (ID: 2014090)
    Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 4:00AM
    Produced by - Will Duquette (NASA)