Particles are used to represent the flow of solar material from the Sun around the Earth. It is important to note that the flowing material of the CME are actually ions and electrons far too small to see. This visualization tries to represent the motions of these tiny particles in a form large enough for us to see.
We open with a close-up view of the Earth, the particles representing the solar wind streaming around the Earth due to extended influence of the Earth's magnetic field. We pull out from the Earth and move so that we see the Sun in the distance. The enormous density enhancement in the solar wind is the coronal mass ejection. As the CME reaches the Earth, we see how effective the Earth's magnetic field is at diverting the solar material around the Earth. As the CME passes, we move earthward, and reveal the field lines representing the Earth's magnetic field, emanating from the magnetic poles and blown behind the Earth due to the influence of the solar wind. For simplicity, we have represented the Earth's magnetic field as unchanging, but it is actually very dynamic in its response to a CME or other change in the solar wind.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 350178, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3902/#media_group_350178", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This movie shows the particle flow around the Earth as the CME strikes.", "items": [ { "id": 324538, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 485540, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003900/a003902/cme.00600_web.png", "filename": "cme.00600_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie shows the particle flow around the Earth as the CME strikes.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 324539, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 485541, "url": 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"Model", "organizations": [ "Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC)" ], "description": "MHD Magnetospheric simulation", "credit": "", "url": "", "date_range": "2006/12/14-2006/12/15" } ], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Sun" ], "keywords": [ "Coronal Mass Ejections", "Coronal Properties", "Earth Science", "HDTV", "Hyperwall", "Magnetosphere", "Solar Activity", "Sun-earth Interactions" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 14892, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14892/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Solar Wind Animations", "description": "The Sun releases a constant stream of charged particles, called the solar wind. The solar wind originates in the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, when plasma is heated to a point that the Sun’s gravity can’t hold it down. When this plasma escapes – often reaching speeds of over one million miles per hour – it drags the Sun’s magnetic out across the solar system. When the solar wind encounters Earth, it is deflected by our planet's magnetic shield, causing most of the solar wind's energetic particles to flow around and beyond us. However, some of these high-energy particles can sneak past Earth’s natural magnetic defenses and produce hazardous conditions for satellites and astronauts, as well as power grids and infrastructure on Earth.Learn more about the solar wind: https://science.nasa.gov/sun/what-is-the-solar-wind/ || ", "release_date": "2025-08-29T16:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-08-29T12:37:20.328315-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1158038, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014892/14892_009_PSP_EarthSunHelioPause_4K_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "14892_009_PSP_EarthSunHelioPause_4K_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Conceptual AnimationArtist interpretation of flying by the Earth, Sun and Heliopause.Credit: NASA Goddard/CILJonathan North", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 4188, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4188/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Comparative Magnetospheres: A Noteworthy Coronal Mass Ejection", "description": "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 the impacts of future space weather events.In mid-December of 2006, the Sun erupted with a bright flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) that launched particles Earthward. While not the brightest or largest event observed, its impact on Earth was substantial, requiring some effort to protect satellites (ESA: Reacting to a solar flare).The visualization presented here is a CCMC run of a BATS-R-US model simulating the impact of this event on Earth. Here, lines are used to represent the 'flow direction' of magnetic field of the solar wind impacting Earth, as well as the effects on Earth's geomagnetic field. A 'cut-plane' through the data illustrates the changes in the particle density in the solar wind and magnetosphere. The color of the data represents a logarithmic scaling of density, with red as the highest (1000 particles per cubic centimeter) down to blue (0.01 particles per cubic centimeter). In this simulation, each frame of the movie corresponds to two minutes of real time.In the movie, we see vertical field lines of magnetic field carried by the solar wind, coming in from the left. As this field, and the plasma carrying it, strike Earth's magnetic field, they bend and reconnect, around the Earth. Some field lines actually reconnect to the polar regions of the Earth, providing a ready flow-path for particles to reach the ionosphere and generate aurora. This interaction between the solar wind and the plasma trapped in Earth's magnetosphere also creates a density enhancement between Earth and the solar wind helping to shield Earth from some of the effects. A lower density wake forms behind Earth (the blue region). There is a circular 'hole' around the Earth which is a gap in the model. || ", "release_date": "2014-09-25T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T22:31:29.713646-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 452471, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004188/Earth_December2006_Pullout.noslate_GSEmove.HD1080i.0300_print.jpg", "filename": "Earth_December2006_Pullout.noslate_GSEmove.HD1080i.0300_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie opens with a close-up view of Earth with geo-magnetic field lines. The camera pulls out and fades in a profile slice of the plasma density data.This video is also available on our YouTube channel.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 11003, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11003/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Excerpt from \"Dynamic Earth\"", "description": "A giant explosion of magnetic energy from the sun, called a coronal mass ejection, slams into and is deflected completely by the Earth's powerful magnetic field. The sun also continually sends out streams of light and radiation energy. Earth's atmosphere acts like a radiation shield, blocking quite a bit of this energy.Much of the radiation energy that makes it through is reflected back into space by clouds, ice and snow and the energy that remains helps to drive the Earth system, powering a remarkable planetary engine — the climate. It becomes the energy that feeds swirling wind and ocean currents as cold air and surface waters move toward the equator and warm air and water moves toward the poles — all in an attempt to equalize temperatures around the world.A jury appointed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science magazine has selected \"Excerpt from Dynamic Earth\" as the winner of the 2013 NSF International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for the Video category. This animation will be highlighted in the February 2014 special section of Science and will be hosted on ScienceMag.org and NSF.govThis animation was selected for the Computer Animation Festival's Electronic Theater at the Association for Computer Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH), a prestigious computer graphics and technical research forum. This is an excerpt from the fulldome, high-resolution show 'Dynamic Earth: Exploring Earth's Climate Engine.' The Dynamic Earth dome show was selected as a finalist in the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Science Media Awards under the category \"Best Immersive Cinema - Fulldome\". || ", "release_date": "2012-06-19T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2019-09-26T08:18:23-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 475216, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011000/a011003/DynamicEarth-Still1_02371.jpg", "filename": "DynamicEarth-Still1_02371.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A coronal mass ejection erupts from the Sun.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 3952, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3952/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Heliophysics Presentation at NASM 2011", "description": "The Maryland Space Business Roundtable sponsored their 12th annual event at the National Air and Space Museum the evening of September 14, 2011. The event is held in support of the roundtable's programs in education for students in science, technology, engineering and math. This year's event, Earth and Space: A Journey of Wonder & Discovery, with remarks from Goddard Center Director Rob Strain and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, included a program featuring a 5-panel member of scientists: Dr. Waleed Abdalati, NASA Chief Scientist; Dr. Arthur Hou, GPM Mission Scientist; Dr. Jim Garvin, Chief Scientist, NASA Goddard; Dr. Holly Gilbert, Goddard Solar Physics Laboratory Chief; and Dr. Amber Straughn, Research Astrophysicist. Miles O'Brien, space and science broadcast news veteran moderated the panel. || ", "release_date": "2012-05-10T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2015-12-03T11:56:05.906158-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 435351, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003900/a003952/Helio-2011NASM_00001.png", "filename": "Helio-2011NASM_00001.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Movie used in the NASM presentation.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 10921, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10921/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Across The Universe", "description": "The NASA Visualization Explorer app is broadening its scope to highlight the astonishing findings and features of the universe beamed back to our planet from NASA's entire fleet of satellites, spacecraft and space telescopes. Expect to see more fascinating views of the sun and planets, along with stunning shots of distant galaxies and star clusters located light-years away, such as the one above captured by the legendary Hubble Space Telescope. Look forward to even more world premiere visualizations and animations, including never-before-seen footage of Earth, as NASA continues to explore our home planet and beyond. Excited? We are too! Check out the media gallery below for a sneak peek at what's to come. || ", "release_date": "2012-03-13T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:12.911341-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 477841, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010921/potw1205a_1024x576.jpg", "filename": "potw1205a_1024x576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "It's a big place out there. Now you can explore it all right here.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [ { "id": 14862, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14862/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA’s TRACERS Studies Magnetic Explosions Above Earth", "description": "NASA's TRACERS mission, or the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, will fly in low Earth orbit through the polar cusps, funnel-shaped holes in the magnetic field, to study magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth's atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection is a mysterious process that happens when the solar wind, made of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields from the Sun, collides with Earth's magnetic shield, causing magnetic field lines to violently snap and explosively fling away particles at high speeds. This process has huge impacts on Earth, from causing breathtaking auroras to disrupting communications and power grids on Earth. TRACERS is launching no earlier than summer 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Find out more about the TRACERS mission and how it will help us better understand the ways space weather affects us on Earth: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tracers/ || ", "release_date": "2025-07-14T11:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-06-27T10:39:30.842035-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1156667, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014862/14862_TRACERSoverview_Thumbnail.jpg", "filename": "14862_TRACERSoverview_Thumbnail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Produced VideoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music Credit: \"Praxis I,” “Three Voices,” and “Die Vogel” by Alexis Francois Georges Delong [SACEM], “Anticipation” by Nicholas Smith [PRS], “Ocean Wisdom” by Hugo Dubery and Philippe Galtier [SACEM], and “Call from the Sea” by MACARON [SACEM] from Universal Production MusicAdditional Video and Animations: University of Iowa, Southwest Research Institute, Millennium Space Systems, Andøya Space / Trond AbrahamsenSound Effects: Pixabay", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 14739, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14739/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "From the Moon, NASA’s LEXI Will Reveal Earth’s Magnetic Shield", "description": "NASA’s next mission to the Moon will carry an instrument called LEXI (the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager), which will provide the first-ever global view of the magnetic environment that shields Earth from solar radiation.From the surface of the Moon, LEXI will capture wide-field images of Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, in low-energy (or \"soft\") X-rays. LEXI will study changes in the magnetosphere and help us learn more about how it interacts with a stream of particles from the Sun called the solar wind, which can pose hazards for Artemis astronauts traveling to the Moon.Learn more about LEXI and its CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flight to the Moon from Hyunju Connor, LEXI co-investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.More on LEXI: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasas-lexi-will-provide-x-ray-vision-of-earths-magnetosphere/ || ", "release_date": "2025-01-03T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2025-01-16T14:00:58.198229-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1140107, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014700/a014739/Thumbnail01.jpg", "filename": "Thumbnail01.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music credit: \"Breakthrough Discovery\" by Phillip John Gregory [PRS] from Universal Production Music", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } ], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }