Being so close to the sun is very hard on comets for many reasons. They are subjected to a lot of solar radiation which boils off their water or other volatiles. The physical push of the radiation and the solar wind also helps form the tails. And as they get closer to the sun, the comets experience extremely strong tidal forces, or gravitational stress. In this hostile environment, many sungrazers do not survive their trip around the sun. Although they don't actually crash into the solar surface, the sun is able to destroy them anyway.
Many sungrazing comets follow a similar orbit, called the Kreutz Path, and collectively belong to a population called the Kreutz Group. In fact, close to 85% of the sungrazers seen by the SOHO satellite are on this orbital highway. Scientists think one extremely large sungrazing comet broke up hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago, and the current comets on the Kreutz Path are the leftover fragments of it. As clumps of remnants make their way back around the sun, we experience a sharp increase in sungrazing comets, which appears to be going on now. Comet Lovejoy, which reached perihelion on December 15, 2011 is the best known recent Kreutz-group sungrazer. And so far, it is the only one that NASA's solar-observing fleet has seen survive its trip around the sun.
Comet ISON, an upcoming sungrazer with a perihelion of 730,000 miles on November 28, 2013, is not on the Kreutz Path. In fact, ISON's orbit suggests that it may gain enough momentum to escape the solar system entirely, and never return. Before it does so, it will pass within about 40 million miles from Earth on December 26th. Assuming it survives its trip around the sun.", "instance": { "id": 463845, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011300/a011307/Sungrazer_Still_web.jpg", "filename": "Sungrazer_Still_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To be considered a sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion. Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles. Being so close to the sun is very hard on comets for many reasons. They are subjected to a lot of solar radiation which boils off their water or other volatiles. The physical push of the radiation and the solar wind also helps form the tails. And as they get closer to the sun, the comets experience extremely strong tidal forces, or gravitational stress. In this hostile environment, many sungrazers do not survive their trip around the sun. Although they don't actually crash into the solar surface, the sun is able to destroy them anyway. Many sungrazing comets follow a similar orbit, called the Kreutz Path, and collectively belong to a population called the Kreutz Group. In fact, close to 85% of the sungrazers seen by the SOHO satellite are on this orbital highway. Scientists think one extremely large sungrazing comet broke up hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago, and the current comets on the Kreutz Path are the leftover fragments of it. As clumps of remnants make their way back around the sun, we experience a sharp increase in sungrazing comets, which appears to be going on now. Comet Lovejoy, which reached perihelion on December 15, 2011 is the best known recent Kreutz-group sungrazer. And so far, it is the only one that NASA's solar-observing fleet has seen survive its trip around the sun. Comet ISON, an upcoming sungrazer with a perihelion of 730,000 miles on November 28, 2013, is not on the Kreutz Path. In fact, ISON's orbit suggests that it may gain enough momentum to escape the solar system entirely, and never return. Before it does so, it will pass within about 40 million miles from Earth on December 26th. Assuming it survives its trip around the sun.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 518635, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11156, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11156/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sungrazers Galore", "description": "Before 1979, there were less than a dozen known sungrazing comets. As of December 2012, we know of 2,500. Why did this number increase? With solar observatories like SOHO, STEREO, and SDO, we have not only better means of viewing the sun, but also the comets that approach it. SOHO allows us to see smaller, fainter comets closer to the sun than we have ever been able to see before. Even though many of these comets do not survive their journey past the sun, they survive long enough to be observed, and be added to our record of sungrazing comets. || ", "release_date": "2013-02-06T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:25.477182-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 469957, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011156/Counting_Comets_Still.png", "filename": "Counting_Comets_Still.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Why are we seeing so many sungrazing comets?", "width": 1264, "height": 709, "pixels": 896176 } } }, { "id": 518636, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11145, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11145/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Counting Comets", "description": "As comets orbit the sun, many come too close and evaporate completely. Others survive the journey, but their orbits gradually move closer to the sun. Ultimately, the heat of the solar atmosphere melts the ice that binds a comet together and breaks it apart into smaller bodies that follow similar orbits. These are the sungrazers, and scientists and amateur astronomers are seeing more of them than ever. As of 1979, we only knew of a dozen. Nearing the end of 2012, thanks to better observation tools, we have now seen 3,000. The bulk of the sungrazers are known as Kreutz comets, and are likely derived from a single original comet observed as early as 371 AD. Watch the videos to learn more about and see NASA satellite footage of sungrazing comets. || ", "release_date": "2013-02-06T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:25.385527-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 470404, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011145/still_sungrazer_soho_576.jpg", "filename": "still_sungrazer_soho_576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Comets that graze the sun can either evaporate or defy death and multiply.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518565, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3929, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3929/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Comet's Demise: July 6, 2011", "description": "A small comet evaporates away in its flyby of the Sun. || Full resolution 4Kx4K frames || AIA171CometDemise.00390_print.jpg (4096x4096) [2.2 MB] || AIA171CometDemise.00390_web.png (320x320) [90.6 KB] || AIA171CometDemise.mp4 (1080x1080) [9.6 MB] || AIA171CometDemise.webm (1080x1080) [2.5 MB] || 4096x4096_1x1_30p (4096x4096) [0 Item(s)] || AIA171CometDemise-1.mp4 (4096x4096) [198.3 MB] || ", "release_date": "2012-03-31T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-02-02T22:06:14.082808-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 477393, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003900/a003929/Death2Snowball_stand.HD1080i.00390.jpg", "filename": "Death2Snowball_stand.HD1080i.00390.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie zooms into the location where the comet is visible as it passes in front of the Sun.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379824, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379824", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "SOHO CME Imagery", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518513, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11811/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "SOHO Observes March 14 Coronal Mass Ejection", "description": "The Joint ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, captured this image series of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, on March 14, 2015. || JHV_movie_created_2015-03-17_19.37.12_print.jpg (1024x576) [73.7 KB] || JHV_movie_created_2015-03-17_19.37.12_searchweb.png (320x180) [48.6 KB] || JHV_movie_created_2015-03-17_19.37.12_web.png (320x180) [48.6 KB] || JHV_movie_created_2015-03-17_19.37.12.webm (1920x1080) [334.4 KB] || JHV_movie_created_2015-03-17_19.37.12.mp4 (1920x1080) [9.0 MB] || ", "release_date": "2015-03-17T13:15:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:49:52.234916-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 444809, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011800/a011811/20150315_0236_c2_1024.jpg", "filename": "20150315_0236_c2_1024.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Joint ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, captured this image of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, at 10:36 pm EDT on March 14, 2015. ", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } }, { "id": 518514, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11558, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11558/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Many Views of a Massive CME", "description": "On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun's right side, zooming out into space. It soon passed one of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft, which clocked the CME as traveling between 1,800 and 2,200 miles per second as it left the sun. This was the fastest CME ever observed by STEREO. Two other observatories – NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the joint European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory — witnessed the eruption as well. The July 2012 CME didn't move toward Earth, but watching an unusually strong CME like this gives scientists an opportunity to observe how these events originate and travel through space. STEREO's unique viewpoint from the sides of the sun combined with the other two observatories watching from closer to Earth helped scientists create models of the entire July 2012 event. They learned that an earlier, smaller CME helped clear the path for the larger event, thus contributing to its unusual speed. Such data helps advance our understanding of what causes CMEs and improves modeling of similar CMEs that could be Earth-directed. || ", "release_date": "2014-09-24T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-04T00:18:09.207601-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 451337, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011558/Massive_CME_Still_2_1080.jpg", "filename": "Massive_CME_Still_2_1080.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Three NASA observatories work together to help scientists track the journey of a massive coronal mass ejection, or CME, in July 2012.Credit: NASA/SDO/STEREO/ESA/SOHO/WiessingerWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518515, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 30072, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30072/", "page_type": "Hyperwall Visual", "title": "Heliophysics Fleet Captures Eruption and CME", "description": "On May 1, 2013, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watched as an active region (left) of the sun erupted with a huge cloud of solar material—a heated, charged gas called plasma. This eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, sent the plasma streaming out through the solar system. Viewing the sun in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 304 Ångström, SDO provided a beautiful view of the initial arc as it left the solar surface. In addition to the images captured by SDO the CME was also observed by the European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). SOHO houses two overlapping Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) telescopes where the bright sun is blocked by a disk so it does not overpower the fainter solar atmosphere. Both LASCO telescopes, named C2 and C3, observed the CME. The LASCO C2 coronagraph shows the region out to about 2.5 million miles, while the LASCO C3 coronagraph expands even farther out to around 13.5 million miles. Both of these instruments show the CME as it expands and becomes fainter on its trip away from the sun. || ", "release_date": "2013-09-25T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-06T23:50:40.522694-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 428454, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030000/a030072/heliophysics_fleet_capture_erup_cme_1280x720_print.jpg", "filename": "heliophysics_fleet_capture_erup_cme_1280x720_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Prominence eruption and CME captured by SDO and SOHO on May 1, 2013.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518516, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11387, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11387/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Five Days of Flares and CMEs", "description": "This movie shows 23 of the 26 M- and X-class flares on the sun between 18:00 UT Oct. 23 and 15:00 UT Oct. 28, 2013, as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. It also shows the coronal mass ejections — great clouds of solar material bursting off the sun into space — during that time as captured by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. || ", "release_date": "2013-10-29T16:30:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:33.389694-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 461578, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011300/a011387/October_Flares_Still.jpg", "filename": "October_Flares_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Credit: NASA/ESA/Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Stella Nova\" by Lars Leonhard, courtesy of the artist and Ultimae Records.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518497, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11298, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11298/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sun Emits a Solstice CME", "description": "On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 1350 miles per second, which is a fast speed for CMEs. Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they funnel energy into Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. The CME's magnetic fields peel back the outermost layers of Earth's fields changing their very shape. Magnetic storms can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected electrical surges in power grids. They also can cause aurora. Storms are rare during solar minimum, but as the sun's activity ramps up every 11 years toward solar maximum—currently expected in late 2013—large storms occur several times per year.In the past, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs of this strength and direction have usually been mild. In addition, the CME may pass by additional spacecraft: Messenger, STEREO B, Spitzer, and their mission operators have been notified. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from the solar material. || ", "release_date": "2013-06-28T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:02.365119-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 464303, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011298/PE_Still.jpg", "filename": "PE_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Video of prominence eruption showing a blend of 304 and 171 angstrom light imaged by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's AIA instrument.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518498, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11257, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11257/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "CMEs Galore", "description": "On April 20, 2013, at 2:54 a.m. EDT, the sun erupted with a coronal mass ejection (CME), a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can affect electronic systems in satellites. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 500 miles per second and is not Earth-directed. However, it may pass by NASA's Messenger and STEREO-A satellites, and their mission operators have been notified. There is, however, no particle radiation associated with this event, which is what would normally concern operators of interplanetary spacecraft since the particles can trip computer electronics on board. When warranted, NASA operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from the solar material. The same region of the sun erupted with another coronal mass ejection (CME) at 3:54 a.m. on April 21, 2013. Experimental NASA research models show the CME left the sun at speeds of 550 miles per second. The models show that the CME will also pass by NASA's Messenger and the flank of the CME may graze STEREO-A.Another coronal mass ejection (CME) has erupted from the sun, headed toward Mercury and NASA's Messenger spacecraft. The CME began at 12:39 p.m. EDT on April 21, 2013. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 625 miles per second and that it will catch up to the CME from earlier on April 21 before the combined CMEs pass Messenger. There is also chance that the combined CMEs will give a glancing blow to STEREO-A. || ", "release_date": "2013-04-26T16:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:12.674583-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 466057, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011257/744711main_CMEs_galore-orig_full.jpg", "filename": "744711main_CMEs_galore-orig_full.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Coronal mass ejections were popping out from the Sun at a pace of two per day on average (Apr. 18-23, 2013). We counted ten CMEs for the five days, but some of the eruptions were complex and difficult to differentiate from one another. Almost all of them blew particles out to the left, most of them probably originating from the same active region. These were taken by the STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft's coronagraph, in which the black disk blocks the Sun (represented by the white circle) so that we can observe the fainter features beyond it. Credit: NASA/STEREO", "width": 2710, "height": 3000, "pixels": 8130000 } } }, { "id": 518499, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11246, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11246/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Sun Emits a Mid-level Flare and CME", "description": "The sun emitted a mid-level flare, peaking at 3:16 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2013.Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing, anywhere from minutes to hours.This flare is classified as an M6.5 flare, some ten times less powerful than the strongest flares, which are labeled X-class flares. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth. This flare produced a radio blackout that has since subsided. The blackout was categorized as an R2 on a scale between R1 and R5 on NOAA's space weather scales.This is the strongest flare seen so far in 2013. Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, since the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in late 2013. Humans have tracked this solar cycle continuously since it was discovered, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity. || ", "release_date": "2013-04-11T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:15.222392-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 466674, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011246/April_11_2013_M6_Flare2_web.jpg", "filename": "April_11_2013_M6_Flare2_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an M6.5 class flare at 3:16 EDT on April 11, 2013. This image shows a combination of light in wavelengths of 131 and 171 angstroms.Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } } }, { "id": 518500, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11225, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11225/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Solar Storm Near Earth Caused by March 15, 2013 Fast CME", "description": "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. || ", "release_date": "2013-03-18T08:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:18.582207-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 467240, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011225/LASCO_C2_March_15_CME_Triptych_No_Labels_web.jpg", "filename": "LASCO_C2_March_15_CME_Triptych_No_Labels_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "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 ", "width": 319, "height": 218, "pixels": 69542 } } }, { "id": 518501, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11207, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11207/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Sun Produces Two CMEs", "description": "In the evening of Feb. 5, 2013, the sun erupted with two coronal mass ejections or CMEs that may glance near-Earth space. 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 first CME began at 7 p.m. EST and left the sun at speeds of around 750 miles per second. The second CME began at 10:36 p.m. EST and left the sun at speeds of around 350 miles per second. Historically, CMEs of this speed and direction have been benign.Not to be confused with a solar flare, a CME is a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later.Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they connect with the outside of the Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. In the past, CMEs at this strength have had little effect. They may cause auroras near the poles but are unlikely to disrupt electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems. || ", "release_date": "2013-02-07T10:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:25.208751-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 468416, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011207/20130206_0412_c2_1024_CC_web.jpg", "filename": "20130206_0412_c2_1024_CC_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The second of two CMEs from the evening of Feb. 5, 2013, can be seen bursting away from the sun in the upper left hand side of this image, which was captured by the joint ESA/NASA mission the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) at 11:12 p.m. EST. The sun itself is obscured in this picture &mdash taken by an instrument called a coronagraph — so that its bright light doesn't drown out the picture of the dimmer surrounding atmosphere, called the corona. ", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } } }, { "id": 518502, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11201, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11201/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "January 31, 2013 CME and Prominence Eruption", "description": "On Jan. 31, 2013 at 2:09am EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME. 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 575 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs. Historically, CMEs at this speed are mild.Not to be confused with a solar flare, a CME is a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later.Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they connect with the outside of the Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. In the past, CME's such as this have caused auroras near the poles but didn't disrupt electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems. || ", "release_date": "2013-01-31T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:26.528702-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 468583, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011201/Ring_Prominence_Still_2.jpg", "filename": "Ring_Prominence_Still_2.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The CME included a large prominence eruption most visible in light with a wavelength of 304 angstroms. SDO captured this footage from 3:00 to 9:00 Universal Time. In this video, the imaging cadence is one frame every 36 seconds.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518503, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11078, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11078/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Class Act", "description": "In August 2012, a long filament of solar material coalesced in the sun's atmosphere. For several days it was visible, appearing from Earth's viewpoint to curl up and over the left side of the sun. Scientists estimate its length was approximately 186,000 miles, equivalent to 30 Earths placed side by side. On August 31 at 4:36 p.m. EDT, the filament expanded and erupted, releasing particles into space at speeds of 900 miles per second. The ejected material did not head directly toward Earth, though some of it did glance off the planet's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3. The video shows the eruption—a particularly gorgeous one, even for veteran observers of the sun—as seen by three NASA spacecraft. || ", "release_date": "2012-09-13T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:48.215818-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 472255, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011000/a011078/cover_1024.jpg", "filename": "cover_1024.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Material hovering in the sun's atmosphere explodes with style.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518504, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11095, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11095/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "August 31, 2012 Magnificent CME", "description": "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. || ", "release_date": "2012-09-04T14:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:48.922764-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 472497, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011000/a011095/304-171_Overlay_Blend_Crop.jpg", "filename": "304-171_Overlay_Blend_Crop.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "An overlay blended version of the 304 and 171 angstrom wavelengths. Cropped.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518505, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10899, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10899/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Biggest Solar Storm Since 2005", "description": "The sun erupted late on January 22, 2012 with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), and a burst of fast moving, highly energetic protons known as a \"solar energetic particle\" event. The latter has caused the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005 according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. || ", "release_date": "2012-01-24T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:18.929554-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 479586, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010800/a010899/January_Flare_Still.png", "filename": "January_Flare_Still.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the flare, shown here in teal as that is the color typically used to show light in the 131 angstrom wavelength, a wavelength in which it is easy to view solar flares. The flare began at 10:38 PM ET on Jan. 22, peaked at 10:59 PM and ended at 11:34 PM. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518506, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3740, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3740/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Space Weather Event: The View from L1", "description": "We start from a position 'behind' the Earth, looking towards the Sun. From this position we see the orbit of the Moon as well as three of the heliospheric 'sentinels' (see \"Sentinels of the Heliosphere\"), ACE, SOHO, and Wind patrolling along 'halo orbits' (Wikipedia) around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point, L1.The CME (orange isosurface) erupts, heading towards the Earth. The density enhancement of the CME is visible in slice of data in the Earth's orbit plane which provides a better sense of when the CME actually reaches the Earth.As the particle density enhancement from the CME strikes the Earth, we see the Earth's magnetosphere respond, with the outer, high density surface (red), 'blown away'. This surface location corresponds roughly to the location of the bow shock. The bow shock has not been eliminated, only some of its particles have been depleted, to be carried off in the CME and solar wind. As the densest material of the CME passes (orange surface), plasma from the CME continues to flow by the Earth, stretching the magnetosphere into a long, thin structure behind the Earth.The magnetosphere slowly recovers from the 'impact', and regions that can confine higher particle densities reform - the red surfaces return. But not for long as the rarefaction behind the CME reaches the Earth. This lower density region provides fewer particles to repopulate the magnetosphere and make it easier for particles confined in the magnetosphere to 'leak' out into the solar wind.For the BATS-R-US model, the isosurface colors are: red=20 AMUs per cubic centimeter, yellow=10.0 AMUs per cubic centimeter, light blue=1.0 AMUs per cubic centimeter, and blue=0.1 AMUs per cubic centimeter. An AMU corresponds to about the mass of a hydrogen atom, the dominant component of the solar wind.This visualization is part of a series of visualizations on space weather modeling. || ", "release_date": "2010-07-08T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:09.007728-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 491354, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003700/a003740/SWL1view.slate_tour.HD720p.0625.jpg", "filename": "SWL1view.slate_tour.HD720p.0625.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This is the full movie of the CME striking the Earth. ", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518507, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3431, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3431/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Coronal Mass Ejections (CME): Radio Quiet Variety", "description": "This is a simple comparison of SOHO/LASCO/C3 difference images (left side) combined with radio data from Wind/WAVES (right side).The LASCO difference images are produced from a time series of images by subtracting the previous image from the current image. Moving material therefore appears white on the leading edge and dark behind it. The WAVES spectrograph shows the variation of radio intensity (black is low, violet is high) in frequency (vertical axis) and time(horizontal axis). A vertical white bar marks the time of the LASCO image.This CME shows no radio-loud emission between 0.2-1.0 MHz. || ", "release_date": "2007-05-29T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:41.156334-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 508444, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003400/a003431/radioQuiet.0019.png", "filename": "radioQuiet.0019.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Still image showing the CME in eruption. The radio-loud component is not visible (between 0.2-1.0 MHz).\n", "width": 1024, "height": 512, "pixels": 524288 } } }, { "id": 518508, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3432, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3432/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Coronal Mass Ejections (CME): Radio Loud Variety", "description": "This is a simple comparison of SOHO/LASCO/C3 difference images (left side) combined with radio data from Wind/WAVES (right side).The LASCO difference images are produced from a time series of images by subtracting the previous image from the current image. Moving material therefore appears white on the leading edge and dark behind it. The WAVES spectrograph shows the variation of radio intensity (black is low, violet is high) in frequency (vertical axis) and time(horizontal axis). A vertical white bar marks the time of the LASCO image.The radio-loud emission of the CME is the yellow-orange band between 0.2-1.0 MHz. || ", "release_date": "2007-05-29T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:41.251557-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 508455, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003400/a003432/radioLoud.0024.png", "filename": "radioLoud.0024.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Still image showing the CME in eruption and the radio-loud component of the emission, the bright yellow-orange band between 0.2-1.0 MHz.", "width": 1024, "height": 512, "pixels": 524288 } } }, { "id": 518509, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3159, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3159/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/LASCO View of January 2005 Solar Events", "description": "The January 20 flare began just before 2 a.m. ET. A storm of energetic protons impacted Earth just 15 minutes later. These views of the flare are from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The proton storm near Earth causes `snow' in the images, obscuring the Sun as radiation swamps the cameras. The structure at the 1:30 position in the SOHO/LASCO/C3 data is the occulting disk pylon. || ", "release_date": "2005-05-24T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:12.739149-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 514170, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003100/a003159/fast_lasco.0000.jpg", "filename": "fast_lasco.0000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Movie of LASCO and EIT data in late January 2005.", "width": 720, "height": 480, "pixels": 345600 } } }, { "id": 518510, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2950, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2950/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Building a 3-D Coronal Mass Ejection from 2-D Data", "description": "Using differences in polarization of light directly from the Sun vs. scattered from the CME electrons, it is possible to derive a distance of matter along the line-of-sight. This version is an early release of animation #2958. || ", "release_date": "2004-07-01T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:40.598283-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519420, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002950/cme-hires.0069c_web.jpg", "filename": "cme-hires.0069c_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "View of the CME from the side.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518511, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2958, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2958/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Building a 3-D Coronal Mass Ejection from 2-D Data", "description": "Using differences in polarization of light directly from the Sun vs. scattered from the CME electrons, it is possible to derive a distance of matter along the line-of-sight. This version is an enhanced version of animation ID 2950 with a color table enhanced to show fainter regions of the CME. || ", "release_date": "2004-07-01T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:40.717816-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519441, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002958/cmealt-hr.0069c_web.jpg", "filename": "cmealt-hr.0069c_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "View of the CME from the side.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518512, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2936, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2936/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The fastest CME of Cycle 23 overtakes another fast CME", "description": "On November 4, 2003, the Sun produced its fastest coronal mass ejection (CME) for cycle 23 out of the active region 0486 located near the southwest limb of the Sun. The CME was expelled with a speed of approximately 2700 km/s. At the time of the launch of this CME, there was another ejection in progress from the same region. The previous ejection started about 7 hours earlier with a speed of about 1000 km/s. The fastest CME overtook the previous one within 2 hours and produced a spectacular radio radiation detected by the Wind, Ulysses and Cassini spacecraft. The movie shows the radio emission and the two interacting CMEs as observed by the SOHO spacecraft. || ", "release_date": "2004-05-23T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:42.230590-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519721, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002936/cmewaves.0643_web.jpg", "filename": "cmewaves.0643_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "As the fast CME engulfs the slower one, another burst of radio emission is detected.", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379825, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379825", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "SOHO Solar Flare Imagery", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518546, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12451, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12451/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Fermi Sees Gamma Rays from Far Side Solar Flares", "description": "On three occasions, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected gamma rays from solar storms on the far side of the sun, emission the Earth-orbiting satellite shouldn't be able to detect. Particles accelerated by these eruptions somehow reach around to produce a gamma-ray glow on the side of the sun facing Earth and Fermi. Watch to learn more. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.This illustration shows large magnetic structures extending high above the sun from the active region hosting the Sept. 1, 2014, solar blast. Left: Scientists think particles accelerated at the leading edge of the event's coronal mass ejection followed magnetic lines high above the sun. Right: Some of the particles followed similar magnetic structures rooted in the Earth-facing side of the sun. They rained down on the sun and interacted with the solar surface, producing gamma rays (magenta). The solar images shown here come from (left) STEREO B and (right) NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/STEREO and NASA/SDO || STEREO-SDO_Fermi_Still.jpg (1920x1080) [433.9 KB] || STEREO-SDO_Fermi_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [101.1 KB] || STEREO-SDO_Fermi_Still_thm.png (80x40) [7.7 KB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.5 GB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_FINAL_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [1.2 GB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares-H264_1080.mov (1920x1080) [286.5 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares-H264_Good_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [190.5 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_FINAL_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [100.4 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares-H264_Compatible.m4v (960x540) [74.4 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_FINAL_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [100.5 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares-H264_Compatible.webm (960x540) [20.5 MB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [3.3 KB] || 12451_Fermi_Farside_Flares_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [3.3 KB] || ", "release_date": "2017-01-30T11:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:58.756546-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 417729, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012400/a012451/STEREO-SDO_Fermi_Still.jpg", "filename": "STEREO-SDO_Fermi_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On three occasions, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected gamma rays from solar storms on the far side of the sun, emission the Earth-orbiting satellite shouldn't be able to detect. Particles accelerated by these eruptions somehow reach around to produce a gamma-ray glow on the side of the sun facing Earth and Fermi. Watch to learn more. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.This illustration shows large magnetic structures extending high above the sun from the active region hosting the Sept. 1, 2014, solar blast. Left: Scientists think particles accelerated at the leading edge of the event's coronal mass ejection followed magnetic lines high above the sun. Right: Some of the particles followed similar magnetic structures rooted in the Earth-facing side of the sun. They rained down on the sun and interacted with the solar surface, producing gamma rays (magenta). The solar images shown here come from (left) STEREO B and (right) NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/STEREO and NASA/SDO", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518543, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11868, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11868/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's SDO Observes a Cinco de Mayo Solar Flare", "description": "Video of May 5, 2015 X2.7 flare.Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO || May_5_2015_Flare_Still_304-171.png (1920x1080) [8.1 MB] || May_5_2015_Flare_Still_304-171.jpg (1920x1080) [415.9 KB] || May_5_2015_Flare_Still_304-171_print.jpg (1024x576) [145.7 KB] || May_5_2015_Flare_Still_304-171_web.png (320x180) [83.3 KB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_MPEG4_1920X1080_2997.mp4 (1920x1080) [42.2 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.webm (1920x1080) [4.8 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_1280x720.wmv (1280x720) [23.1 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_appletv.m4v (960x540) [19.0 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_appletv_subtitles.m4v (960x540) [19.0 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_ipod_lg.m4v (640x360) [7.1 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [3.6 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [230 bytes] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [243 bytes] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [674.9 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_H264_Best_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [682.7 MB] || 11868_May_5_X_Flare_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [219.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2015-05-06T09:45:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-06T23:38:49.781474-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 443402, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011800/a011868/May_5_2015_Five_Across_no_Labels_print.jpg", "filename": "May_5_2015_Five_Across_no_Labels_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the left – on May 5, 2015. Each image shows a different wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights a different temperature of material on the sun. By comparing different images, scientists can better understand the movement of solar matter and energy during a flare. From left to right, the wavelengths are: visible light, 171 angstroms, 304 angstroms, 193 angstroms and 131 angstroms. Each wavelength has been colorized. Unlabeled.Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518544, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11651, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11651/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "September 10, 2014 X1.6 flare", "description": "The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.This flare is classified as an X1.6 class flare. \"X-class\" denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. || ", "release_date": "2014-09-11T08:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:35.229498-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 451763, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011600/a011651/20140910_174246_4096_0131_print.jpg", "filename": "20140910_174246_4096_0131_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun on Sept. 10, 2014. This image was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and shows light in the 131 angstrom wavelength, which is typically colorized in teal.Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } }, { "id": 518545, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11493, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11493/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's SDO Provides Images of Significant Solar Flare", "description": "The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 7:49 p.m. EST on Feb. 24, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which keeps a constant watch on the sun, captured images of the event.This flare is classified as an X4.9-class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. || ", "release_date": "2014-02-25T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:09.515722-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 457916, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011400/a011493/Feb_25_X-5_Flare-171-131_web.jpg", "filename": "Feb_25_X-5_Flare-171-131_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "An X-class solar flare erupted on the left side of the sun on the evening of Feb. 24, 2014. This composite image, captured at 7:59 p.m. EST, shows the sun in ultraviolet light with wavelength of both 131 and 171 angstroms.Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } } }, { "id": 518517, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11285, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11285/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "First X-Class Solar Flares of 2013", "description": "On May 13, 2013, the sun emitted an X2.8-class flare, peaking at 12:05 p.m. EDT. This is the the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. It is the 16th X-class flare of the current solar cycle and the third-largest flare of that cycle. The second-strongest was an X5.4 event on March 7, 2012. The strongest was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.On May 12, 2013, the sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 10 p.m. EDT. This flare is classified as an X1.7, making it the first X-class flare of 2013. The flare was also associated with another solar phenomenon, called a coronal mass ejection (CME) that can send solar material out into space. This CME was not Earth-directed. The May 12 flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection, another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space, which can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 745 miles per second and is not Earth-directed, however its flank may pass by the STEREO-B and Spitzer spacecraft, and their mission operators have been notified. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from solar material. There is some particle radiation associated with this event, which is what can concern operators of interplanetary spacecraft since the particles can trip computer electronics on board. || ", "release_date": "2013-05-13T10:30:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:10.120221-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 465387, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011285/SDO_May_13_XFlare_131-171_Crop_web.jpg", "filename": "SDO_May_13_XFlare_131-171_Crop_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The sun erupted with an X1.7-class solar flare on May 12, 2013. This is a blend of two images of the flare from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) — one image shows light in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the other in 131 angstroms.Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA", "width": 319, "height": 298, "pixels": 95062 } } }, { "id": 518518, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11262, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11262/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sun Emits Mid-Level Flare and Prominence Eruption", "description": "The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 1:32 pm EDT on May 3, 2013. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing, and the radio blackout for this flare has already subsided.This flare is classified as an M5.7-class flare. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth. Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, as the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in late 2013. || ", "release_date": "2013-05-03T21:30:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:11.429643-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 465904, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011262/May_3_Flare_171-304-131_blend-crop_web.jpg", "filename": "May_3_Flare_171-304-131_blend-crop_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A burst of solar material leaps off the left side of the sun in what's known as a prominence eruption. This image combines three images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured on May 3, 2013, at 1:45 pm EDT, just as an M-class solar flare from the same region was subsiding. The images include light from the 131-, 171- and 304-angstrom wavelengths.Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA", "width": 320, "height": 233, "pixels": 74560 } } }, { "id": 518519, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11043, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11043/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Big Sunspot 1520 Releases X1.4 Class Flare", "description": "An X1.4 class flare erupted from the center of the sun, peaking on July 12, 2012 at 12:52 PM EDT. It erupted from Active Region 1520 which rotated into view on July 6. || ", "release_date": "2012-07-12T16:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-10T00:16:09.077977-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 474387, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011000/a011043/Mag_Sun_2k_crop_web.jpg", "filename": "Mag_Sun_2k_crop_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Medium-size crop of AIA 171 and HMI Magnetogram image.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } } }, { "id": 518520, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10925, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10925/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "HD Close up of March 6th X5.4 Flare", "description": "The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on March 6, 2012 at 7PM ET. ?This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare — after an X6.9 on August 9, 2011 — since the sun's activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007. The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun's normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013. About an hour later, at 8:14 PM ET, March 6, the same region let loose an X1.3 class flare. ?An X1 is 5 times smaller than an X5 flare. These X-class flares erupted from an active region named AR 1429 that rotated into view on March 2. ?Prior to this, the region had already produced numerous M-class and one X-class flare. ?The region continues to rotate across the front of the sun, so the March 6 flare was more Earthward facing than the previous ones. ?It triggered a temporary radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth that interfered with radio navigation and short wave radio.In association with these flares, the sun also expelled two significant coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are traveling faster than 600 miles a second and may arrive at Earth in the next few days. ?In the meantime, the CME associated with the X-class flare from March 4 has dumped solar particles and magnetic fields into Earth's atmosphere and distorted Earth's magnetic fields, causing a moderate geomagnetic storm, rated a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5. ?Such storms happen when the magnetic fields around Earth rapidly change strength and shape. ?A moderate storm usually causes aurora and may interfere with high frequency radio transmission near the poles. ?This storm is already dwindling, but the Earth may experience another enhancement if the most recent CMEs are directed toward and impact Earth. In addition, last night's flares have sent solar particles into Earth's atmosphere, producing a moderate solar energetic particle event, also called a solar radiation storm. These particles have been detected by NASA's SOHO and STEREO spacecraft, and NOAA's GOES spacecraft. ?At the time of writing, this storm is rated an S3 on a scale that goes up to S5. ?Such storms can interfere with high frequency radio communication. Besides the August 2011 X-class flare, the last time the sun sent out flares of this magnitude was in 2006. ?There was an X6.5 on December 6, 2006 and an X9.0 on December 5, 2006. Like the most recent events, those two flares erupted from the same region on the sun, which is a common occurrence. || ", "release_date": "2012-03-07T15:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:13.456307-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 478390, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010925/Massive_Flare_HD_Still.png", "filename": "Massive_Flare_HD_Still.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Massive Flare Gets HD Closeup.Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDOFor complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518521, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10109, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10109/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "X-Class: A Guide to Solar Flares", "description": "Flares happen when the powerful magnetic fields in and around the sun reconnect. They're usually associated with active regions, often seen as sun spots, where the magnetic fields are strongest. Flares are classified according to their strength. The smallest ones are B-class, followed by C, M and X, the largest. Similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a ten-fold increase in energy output. So an X is 10 times an M and 100 times a C. Within each letter class, there is a finer scale from 1 to 9. C-class flares are too weak to noticeably affect Earth. M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts at the poles and minor radiation storms that might endanger astronauts. Although X is the last letter, there are flares more than 10 times the power of an X1, so X-class flares can go higher than 9. The most powerful flare on record was in 2003, during the last solar maximum. It was so powerful that it overloaded the sensors measuring it. They cut-out at X17, and the flare was later estimated to be about X45. A powerful X-class flare like that can create long lasting radiation storms, which can harm satellites and even give airline passengers, flying near the poles, small radiation doses. X flares also have the potential to create global transmission problems and world-wide blackouts. || ", "release_date": "2011-08-09T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:41.957045-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 487409, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010100/a010109/Solar_Flares_1280x720_Still_1_print.jpg", "filename": "Solar_Flares_1280x720_Still_1_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Short narrated video about flares, how they are classified, and their effect on Earth.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518522, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3755, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3755/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "December 2006 Flare from SOHO/EIT and Hinode/XRT", "description": "This movie shows data of the December 13, 2006 flare event seen by SOHO/EIT (left) and Hinode XRT (right). The field-of-view of the Hinode images is marked with the yellow border on SOHO/EIT.This movie shows the same event as that in Hinode's High-Resolution View of the Sun. || ", "release_date": "2010-07-23T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:08.013547-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 490981, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003700/a003755/EITHinodeSide_stand.HD720p.00400.jpg", "filename": "EITHinodeSide_stand.HD720p.00400.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie is a synchronized view of SOHO/EIT and Hinode/XRT.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518523, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3691, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3691/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Comparative View of the Sun: SDO/AIA 193 and SOHO/EIT 195", "description": "This movie compares the spatial and temporal resolutions of the SDO/AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) imager to the SOHO/EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) imager. SOHO/EIT's highest resolution is 1024x1024 pixels with images taken about every 12 minutes for the 195 Ångstrom band. The SDO/AIA 193 band takes images at 4096x4096 pixels every twelve seconds!In this movie we can see the difference this makes for a closeup view of Active Region 1087. EIT reveals changes in the active region, which AIA reveals many details.This visualization is a companion piece to A Comparative View of the Sun: SDO/AIA 193 and STEREO-B/EUVI 195. || ", "release_date": "2010-03-31T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:18.603509-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 493266, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003691/SDOAIAvSOHOEIT_stand.HD1080i.00400.jpg", "filename": "SDOAIAvSOHOEIT_stand.HD1080i.00400.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie zoom-in at its closest point shows SDO data at native resolution for a 1920x1080 resolution movie", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518524, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3694, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3694/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Comparative View of the Sun: SDO/AIA 193 and STEREO-B/EUVI 195", "description": "This movie compares the spatial and temporal resolutions of the SDO/AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) imager to the STEREO/EUVI (Extreme UltraViolet Imager) imager. STEREO-B/EUVI's highest resolution is 2048x2048 pixels with images taken about every 5 minutes for the 195 Ångstrom band. The SDO/AIA 193 band takes images at 4096x4096 pixels every twelve seconds!While STEREO's vantage point at this time is very different from SDO, we can still identify some features of the Active Region 1087 in these two views. EUVI shows the launch of the filament, while AIA reveals many finer details.This visualization is a companion piece to A Comparative View of the Sun: SDO/AIA 193 and SOHO/EIT 195. || ", "release_date": "2010-03-24T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:19.197723-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 493311, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003694/SDOAIAvSTEREOEUVI_stand.HD1080i.00001.jpg", "filename": "SDOAIAvSTEREOEUVI_stand.HD1080i.00001.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie zoom-in at its closest point shows SDO data at native resolution for a 1920x1080 resolution movie ", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518525, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3160, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3160/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "January 2005 Solar Flares from SOHO/EIT", "description": "SOHO/EIT's view of the Sun in late January 2005. || fast_eit.0000.jpg (720x480) [44.6 KB] || fast_eit_320x240_pre.jpg (320x240) [8.1 KB] || fast_eit_NTSC.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.1 MB] || fast_eit_640x480.mpg (640x480) [15.0 MB] || fast_eit_NTSC.m2v (720x480) [24.0 MB] || 720x480_4x3_30 (720x480) [32.0 KB] || a003160_fast_eit_NTSC.mp4 (640x480) [4.8 MB] || fast_eit_320x240.mpg (320x240) [3.9 MB] || ", "release_date": "2005-05-24T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:12.813399-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 514189, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003100/a003160/fast_eit.0000.jpg", "filename": "fast_eit.0000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "SOHO/EIT's view of the Sun in late January 2005.", "width": 720, "height": 480, "pixels": 345600 } } }, { "id": 518526, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2921, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2921/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Solar Tsunamis", "description": "Push-in to a region of the Sun to witness a 'solar tsunami' after a flare event. The tsunami moves hot gas (bright) out of the region, revealing cooler regions (darker) below. || ", "release_date": "2005-03-08T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:18.457992-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 515061, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002921/tsu195_nospin_320x240_pre.jpg", "filename": "tsu195_nospin_320x240_pre.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Closeup view of the tsunami", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518527, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2922, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2922/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Solar Tsunamis - View with a Spin", "description": "Push-in to a region of the Sun to witness a 'solar tsunami' after a flare event. The tsunami moves hot gas (bright) out of the region, revealing cooler regions (darker) below. This view rotates on the push-in to keep the region of the flare event visible (to the left in the final frame). || ", "release_date": "2005-03-08T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:18.561351-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 515082, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002922/tsu195_slow_320x240_pre.jpg", "filename": "tsu195_slow_320x240_pre.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Closeup view of the tsunami (with rotation)", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518528, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2917, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2917/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SORCE Monitors Solar Variability during Record Solar Flares", "description": "The SORCE mission monitors solar variability to determine its impact on the Earth's climate. The X-ray photometer aboard SORCE observes the record-breaking solar flares in the Fall of 2003. The line graph shows the photometer's measured solar radiation flux in the 1-7 nanometer wavelength band (x-ray) measured in milliwatts per square meter. The ultraviolet (195 angstrom) imagery from SOHO/EIT (green) illustrates where the flares (the bright white spots) are located on the solar disk. || ", "release_date": "2004-02-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:46.499393-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 520402, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002917/SORCE.1300_web.jpg", "filename": "SORCE.1300_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SoRCE) measured the broad spectrum of incoming solar radiation, from near-infrared through visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray. It was operational from January 2003 through February of 2020.", "width": 240, "height": 320, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518529, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2918, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2918/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SORCE Monitors Solar Variability during Record Solar Flares - Video version", "description": "The SORCE mission monitors solar variability to determine its impact on the Earth's climate. The X-ray photometer aboard SORCE observes the record-breaking solar flares in the Fall of 2003. The line graph shows the photometer's measured solar radiation flux in the 1-7 nanometer wavelength band (x-ray) measured in milliwatts per square meter. The ultraviolet (195 angstrom) imagery from SOHO/EIT (green) illustrates where the flares (the bright white spots) are located on the solar disk. This version has the contents slightly smaller for use in video. || ", "release_date": "2004-02-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:46.925524-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 520416, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002918/SORCEvideo.0417_web.jpg", "filename": "SORCEvideo.0417_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The X17 solar flare on October 28, 2003", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518530, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2750, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2750/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "RHESSI Observes 2.2 MeV Line Emission from a Solar Flare", "description": "The solar flare at Active Region 10039 on July 23, 2002 exhibits many exceptional high-energy phenomena including the 2.223 MeV neutron capture line and the 511 keV electron-positron (antimatter) annihilation line. In the animation, the RHESSI low-energy channels (12-25 keV) are represented in red and appears predominantly in coronal loops. The high-energy flux appears as blue at the footpoints of the coronal loops. Violet is used to indicate the location and relative intensity of the 2.2MeV emission. || ", "release_date": "2003-09-02T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:02.620375-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 522628, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002700/a002750/rhessi0254_web.jpg", "filename": "rhessi0254_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The 2.2MeV gamma-ray emission is prominent.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518531, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2509, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2509/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Multi-Mission View of the AR9906 Solar Flare with Instrument Labels", "description": "Here's a view of the Sun, from the point of view of a fleet of Sun-observing spacecraft - SOHO, TRACE, and RHESSI. The time scales of the data samples in this visualization range from six hours to as short as 12 seconds and the display rate varies throughout the movie. The region and event of interest is the solar flare over solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002. In this visualization, the instrument names appear in a color roughly matching the color used for the data, and black corresponds to no (current) instrument coverage. || ", "release_date": "2003-01-31T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2024-08-18T22:00:03.391621-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 524253, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002500/a002509/multisun0710_web.jpg", "filename": "multisun0710_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The expanding bubble of hot plasma expands into SOHO-LASCO C3 field of view just before bursting", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518532, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2511, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2511/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Multi-Mission View of the AR9906 Solar Flare without Instrument Labels", "description": "Here's a view of the Sun, from the point of view of a fleet of Sun-observing spacecraft - SOHO, TRACE, and RHESSI. The time scales of the data samples in this visualization range from 6 hours to as short as 12 seconds and the display rate varies throughout the movie. The region and event of interest is the solar flare over solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002. In this visualization, black corresponds to no (current) instrument coverage (there used to be a LASCO C1 camera inside the ring of LASCO C2, but that instrument didn't recover after SOHO was temporarily 'lost' in 1998). || ", "release_date": "2003-01-31T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:11.839691-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 524294, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002500/a002511/multisun_no0710_web.jpg", "filename": "multisun_no0710_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The expanding bubble of hot plasma expands into SOHO-LASCO C3 field of view just before bursting", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518533, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2553, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2553/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "A Multi-Mission View of the AR9906 Solar Flare with Alternate Instrument Labels", "description": "Here's a view of the Sun, from the point of view of a fleet of Sun-observing spacecraft - SOHO, TRACE, and RHESSI. The time scales of the data samples in this visualization range from 6 hours to as short as 12 seconds and the display rate varies throughout the movie. The region and event of interest is the solar flare over solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002. In this visualization, black corresponds to no (current) instrument coverage (there used to be a LASCO C1 camera inside the ring of LASCO C2, but that instrument didn't recover after SOHO was temporarily 'lost' in 1998). || ", "release_date": "2003-01-31T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:11.964093-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 524327, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002500/a002553/multisun_r0560_web.jpg", "filename": "multisun_r0560_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "TRACE and two RHESSI channels", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518534, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2495, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2495/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/EIT views solar 'Grand Slam'", "description": "A full view of the sun at 195 angstroms from SOHO/EIT. The time covers July 15-23, 2002. Four X-class flares erupted: an X3.0 on July 15, an X1.8 on July 18, a X3.3 on July 20 and an X4.0 on July 23. || ", "release_date": "2002-07-25T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:29.447294-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 526811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002495/flares0102_web.jpg", "filename": "flares0102_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The X3.0 flare at AR 10030", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518535, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2496, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2496/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/EIT Views Solar 'Grand Slam' with Zoom", "description": "A view of the sun at 195 angstroms from SOHO/EIT. The time covers July 15-23, 2002. Four X-class flares erupted: an X3.0 on July 15, an X1.8 on July 18, a X3.3 on July 20 and an X4.0 on July 23. The version zooms in slightly to the flare region. || ", "release_date": "2002-07-25T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:29.540987-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 526836, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002496/flarezoom0962_web.jpg", "filename": "flarezoom0962_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The X4.8 flare at AR 10039", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518536, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2460, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2460/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom with times", "description": "Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV. || Movie of RHESSI and TRACE data. || a002460.00100_print.png (720x480) [447.6 KB] || ar9906-zoom-dates_pre.jpg (320x240) [6.9 KB] || a002460.webmhd.webm (960x540) [6.9 MB] || ar9906-zoom-dates.mpg (640x480) [15.0 MB] || a002460.dv (720x480) [118.8 MB] || ", "release_date": "2002-06-05T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:32.887951-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527405, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002460/ar9906-zoom-dates0177_web.jpg", "filename": "ar9906-zoom-dates0177_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Upflow viewed in TRACE appears at the center of the RHESSI emission.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518537, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2461, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2461/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - zoom without times", "description": "Zoom in to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV. || ", "release_date": "2002-06-05T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:32.991695-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527432, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002461/ar9906-zoom-nodate0294_web.jpg", "filename": "ar9906-zoom-nodate0294_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "RHESSI emission expands to an arc, apparently around the limb of the Sun.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518538, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2462, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2462/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - rotate view with times", "description": "Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT,TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV. || ", "release_date": "2002-06-05T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:33.101214-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527462, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002462/ar9906-rotate-dates0546_web.jpg", "filename": "ar9906-rotate-dates0546_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Last gasps of x-ray emission from this flare.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518539, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2463, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2463/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "RHESSI Observes the Flare over AR9906 - Rotate View Without Times", "description": "Zoom in (with rotation) to solar active region AR9906 on April 21, 2002 with SOHO/EIT, TRACE and RHESSI data. RHESSI observes x-rays from this flare. The red contours represent the 12-25 keV photon energy range and the blue contours represent 50-100 keV. || ", "release_date": "2002-06-05T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:33.208773-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527474, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002463/ar9906-rotate-nodate0114_web.jpg", "filename": "ar9906-rotate-nodate0114_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Initial appearance of emission in 12-25 keV.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518540, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2402, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2402/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "First Flare movie for the RHESSI Instrument (Speed 105x Normal)", "description": "An animation of an M-class flare viewed by the RHESSI instrument on February 20, 2002. On tape, this version plays at the maximum speed of one frame corresponding to 3.5 seconds of data collection time. The flare was located at -17.8 degrees South, 9.8 degrees West (heliographic coordinates) in NOAA active region number 9830. || ", "release_date": "2002-03-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:37.759953-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 528208, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002402/hessi1030_web.jpg", "filename": "hessi1030_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Full Sun at 195 angstroms from SOHO-EIT.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518541, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2403, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2403/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "First Flare Movie for the RHESSI Instrument (Speed 52x Normal)", "description": "An animation of an M-class flare viewed by the RHESSI instrument on February 20, 2002. On tape, this version plays at a speed of two video frames corresponding to 3.5 seconds of data collection time. The flare was located at -17.8 degrees South, 9.8 degrees West (heliographic coordinates) in NOAA active region number 9830. || ", "release_date": "2002-03-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:37.917886-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 528242, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002403/hessi1293_web.jpg", "filename": "hessi1293_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "First flare location fades as second flash is on the rise.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518542, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2404, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2404/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "First Flare Movie for the RHESSI Instrument (Speed 26x Normal)", "description": "An animation of an M-class flare viewed by the RHESSI instrument on February 20, 2002. On tape, this version plays at a speed of four video frames corresponding to 3.75 seconds of data collection time. The flare was located at -17.8 degrees South, 9.8 degrees West (heliographic coordinates) in NOAA active region number 9830. || ", "release_date": "2002-03-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:38.073668-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 528272, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002404/hessi1309_web.jpg", "filename": "hessi1309_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "X-rays from the second portion of this flare event.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379826, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379826", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "SOHO Sunspot Imagery", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518637, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3505, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3505/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Solar Cycle 23: Minimum-Maximum-Minimum Synoptic Sequence", "description": "This is a sequence of solar synoptic maps covering Solar Cycle 23.The SOHO spacecraft began collecting this data in May of 1996, near the beginning (minimum) of the sunspot cycle. The sequence is projected in cylindrical-equidistant (CED) coordinates suitable for reprojection on spheres for animation or visualization purposes. These images are not suitable for scientific analysis.The original data were collected in FITS format from the SOHO/MDI archive, one image for each Carrington Rotation, which are 27.2753 days long.Solar minimum for Cycle 23 was in May 1996 (Carrington Rotation #1909), solar maximum around March 2000 (Carrington Rotation #1960), with a return to minimum about October 2008 (Carrington Rotation #2075). There are two gaps in the sequence, totalling four rotations, at Carrington rotations #1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, and 1998. These images are missing from the sequence due to SOHO being offline. Gaps in the data coverage for individual maps (occasional day outages or poor coverage near the poles of the Sun) were filled using data accumulated from previous maps.IMPORTANT NOTE: These images are for visualization purposes only. They are not suitable for scientific analysis. || ", "release_date": "2009-10-01T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:36.206128-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 498359, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003505/SynopticIntensity.02004.jpg", "filename": "SynopticIntensity.02004.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie plays the maps in time sequence.", "width": 3600, "height": 1800, "pixels": 6480000 } } }, { "id": 518551, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 20070, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20070/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "Under the Sunspots", "description": "New studies show that the Sun's active regions — areas of intense eruptions — are formed from many small magnetic structures (white loops) that rise from deep within the interior, then pierce the surface to form sunspots (dark areas). These structures appear as giant arches when electrified gas (plasma) passes through their magnetic fields. || ", "release_date": "2003-03-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:10.029380-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 523880, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020000/a020070/Sunspots_pre.00002_print.jpg", "filename": "Sunspots_pre.00002_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Magnetic field lines poke through the solar surface, producing sunspots and occasionally flares.", "width": 1024, "height": 698, "pixels": 714752 } } }, { "id": 518552, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10073, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10073/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "MDI Sunspots", "description": "Animation of an active region on far side rotating to near side, where a coronal mass ejection occurs. || Sunspots are associated with active regions which can launch coronal mass ejections. || MDI_print.jpg (1024x698) [37.6 KB] || MDI_pre.00002_print.jpg (1024x698) [31.4 KB] || MDI_thm.png (80x40) [3.4 KB] || MDI_pre.jpg (320x238) [4.3 KB] || MDI_pre_searchweb.jpg (320x180) [29.9 KB] || MDI.webmhd.webm (960x540) [909.3 KB] || MDI.mpeg (352x240) [5.9 MB] || ", "release_date": "2003-03-20T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:09.728518-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 523834, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010000/a010073/MDI_pre.00002_print.jpg", "filename": "MDI_pre.00002_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Sunspots are associated with active regions which can launch coronal mass ejections.", "width": 1024, "height": 698, "pixels": 714752 } } }, { "id": 518547, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2287, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2287/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Spinning Sunspot", "description": "Zoom-in to the sunspot group and watch it rotate || a002287.00005_print.png (720x480) [413.4 KB] || spinspot2_pre.jpg (320x240) [5.6 KB] || a002287.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.9 MB] || a002287.dv (720x480) [60.1 MB] || spinspot2.mpg (320x240) [2.4 MB] || Full sun view with SOHO-MDI data || spinningspot0001.jpg (2560x1920) [351.5 KB] || spinningspot0001_web.jpg (320x240) [7.3 KB] || spinningspot0001.tif (2560x1920) [2.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2001-12-10T11:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:48.334343-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 529700, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002287/spinningspot0092_web.jpg", "filename": "spinningspot0092_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Close-up on the sunspot group", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518548, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2304, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2304/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Under the Rotating Sunspot (Layers 0, 1, 2)", "description": "Using the SOHO Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI), scientists can use a process called Time-Distance helioseismology to determine temperatures and fluid flows under the surface of the Sun. || ", "release_date": "2001-12-10T11:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:48.477941-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 529718, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002300/a002304/layer0123_web.jpg", "filename": "layer0123_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Temperature anomalies (color) and flow directions at the solar surface. The darker blue region corresponds to the sunspot itself.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518549, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2314, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2314/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Temperature and Flows under a Sunspot (Layers 0, 2, 4)", "description": "Using the SOHO Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI), scientists can use a process called Time-Distance helioseismology to determine temperatures and fluid flows under the surface of the Sun. || ", "release_date": "2001-12-10T11:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:48.608040-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 529739, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002300/a002314/layer0183_web.jpg", "filename": "layer0183_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Layer 5000 kilometers below the solar surface.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518550, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2232, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2232/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI Investigates Solar Flows Under Sunspots", "description": "SOHO/MDI performs a 'sonogram' of the sun, revealing the subsurface temperature profile around a sunspot. Red isosurfaces denote regions where the sound speed (and temperature) are higher than average while blue isosurfaces directly under the spot illustrate where the sound speed (and temperature) are lower than average. || ", "release_date": "2001-11-06T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:52.663535-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 530284, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002232/mdi0510_web.jpg", "filename": "mdi0510_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A view of the subsurface sunspot structure from another angle.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379827, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379827", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "SOHO Views A Solar Eclipse", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518553, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12704, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12704/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Eclipse Imagery", "description": "As millions of people across the United States experienced a total eclipse as the umbra, or Moon’s shadow passed over them, only six people witnessed the umbra from space. Viewing the eclipse from orbit were NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, ESA (European Space Agency’s) Paolo Nespoli, and Roscosmos’ Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy. The space station crossed the path of the eclipse three times as it orbited above the continental United States at an altitude of 250 miles. Credit: NASA || iss052e056122.jpg (4928x3280) [844.0 KB] || ", "release_date": "2017-08-31T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:24.398402-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411615, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012700/a012704/IMG_7906[3].png", "filename": "IMG_7906[3].png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The total phase of the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse as seen from Casper, Wyoming. Credit: Keon Gibson", "width": 1024, "height": 683, "pixels": 699392 } } }, { "id": 518554, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 30893, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30893/", "page_type": "Hyperwall Visual", "title": "2017 Eclipse Image Collection", "description": "This image is a composite photograph that shows the progression of the total solar eclipse over Madras, Oregon.http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90796 || eclipsecomposite_pho_lrg.jpg (2231x1487) [541.4 KB] || eclipsecomposite_pho_lrg_searchweb.png (320x180) [47.2 KB] || eclipsecomposite_pho_lrg_thm.png (80x40) [3.3 KB] || 2017-eclipse-images-7.hwshow [293 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2017-08-31T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-11T00:26:25.481701-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411736, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030800/a030893/eclipsecomposite_pho_lrg_searchweb.png", "filename": "eclipsecomposite_pho_lrg_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This image is a composite photograph that shows the progression of the total solar eclipse over Madras, Oregon.http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90796", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } } }, { "id": 518556, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12698, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12698/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "What Spacecraft Saw During the 2017 Solar Eclipse", "description": "On Aug. 21, 2017, a solar eclipse passed over North America. People throughout the continent experienced a partial solar eclipse, and a total solar eclipse passed over a narrow swath of land stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, called the path of totality. NASA and its partner’s satellites had a unique vantage point to watch the eclipse. Several Sun-watching satellites were in a position to see the Moon cross in front of the Sun, while many Earth-observing satellites – and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which typically images the Moon’s landscape – captured images of the Moon’s shadow on Earth’s surface. See more and download content at https://go.nasa.gov/2x7b8kf || ", "release_date": "2017-08-30T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:24.856314-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411636, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012698/iss_umbra.jpg", "filename": "iss_umbra.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credit: Wonderful Nature by July Tourret", "width": 4928, "height": 3280, "pixels": 16163840 } } }, { "id": 518557, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12693, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12693/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "A Total Solar Eclipse Revealed Solar Storms 100 Years Before Satellites", "description": "Eclipses set the stage for historic science. NASA is taking advantage of the Aug. 21, 2017 eclipse by funding 11 ground-based scientific studies. As our scientists prepare their experiments for next week, we're looking back to an historic 1860 total solar eclipse, which many think gave humanity our first glimpse of solar storms — called coronal mass ejections — 100 years before scientists first understood what they were.Scientists observed these eruptions in the 1970s during the beginning of the modern satellite era, when satellites in space were able to capture thousands of images of solar activity that had never been seen before. But in hindsight, scientists realized their satellite images might not be the first record of these solar storms. Hand-drawn records of an 1860 total solar eclipse bore surprising resemblance to these groundbreaking satellite images.Eclipse archive imagery from: http://mlso.hao.ucar.edu/hao-eclipse-archive.php || ", "release_date": "2017-08-17T11:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:25.682531-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411950, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012693/LARGE_MP4-12693_FirstCMEDuringEclipse_large.00139_print.jpg", "filename": "LARGE_MP4-12693_FirstCMEDuringEclipse_large.00139_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Complete transcript available.Music credits: ‘Electricity Wave’ by Jean-François Berger [SACEM] and ‘Solar Winds’ by Ben Niblett [PRS], Jon Cotton [PRS]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518555, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2655, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2655/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Solar Eclipse: December 4, 2002", "description": "A composite of red continuum with SOHO/EIT near totality. The red image was taken in Ceduna, South Australia. The images are co-registered so one can install smooth dissolves between them. || Solar eclipse in red continuum || eclipse0002.jpg (1280x960) [46.6 KB] || eclipse0002_web.jpg (320x240) [3.9 KB] || eclipse0002.tif (1280x960) [208.4 KB] || ", "release_date": "2002-12-06T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:15.391747-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 524931, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002600/a002655/eclipse0003_web.jpg", "filename": "eclipse0003_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Red continuum image composited with SOHO-EIT", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379829, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379829", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "SOHO Other Sun Imagery", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518566, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12890, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12890/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Solar Highlights of 2018", "description": "3 NASA Satellite Recreate Solar Eruption in 3-DUsing data from three different satellites, scientists have developed new models that recreate, in 3-D, CMEs and shocks, separately. This movie illustrates the recreation of a CME and shock that erupted from the Sun on March 7, 2011. The pink lines show the CME structure and the yellow lines show the structure of the shock - a side effect of the CME that can spark space weather events around Earth.Scientists: Ryun Kwon (George Mason University), Angelos Vourlidas (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)Image credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/GMU/APL/Joy NgWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Find this feature on NASA.gov. || 3DCME.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [77.7 KB] || 3DCME.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [52.1 KB] || 3DCME.00001_web.png (320x180) [52.1 KB] || 3DCME.00001_thm.png (80x40) [5.3 KB] || PRORES_B-ROLL_12890_3DCME_prores.mov (1280x720) [218.7 MB] || 3DCME_Prores.mov (1920x1080) [416.9 MB] || 3DCME.mp4 (1920x1080) [44.6 MB] || 12890_3DCME_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [24.5 MB] || NASA_TV_12890_3DCME.mpeg (1280x720) [102.5 MB] || LARGE_MP4_12890_3DCME_large.mp4 (1920x1080) [31.2 MB] || 3DCME.webm (1920x1080) [3.1 MB] || GSFC_20180309_CME_m12890_3DCME.en_US.vtt [64 bytes] || 12890_3DCME_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [7.2 MB] || ", "release_date": "2018-03-09T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:57.506843-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 405893, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012800/a012890/3DCME.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "3DCME.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "3 NASA Satellite Recreate Solar Eruption in 3-DUsing data from three different satellites, scientists have developed new models that recreate, in 3-D, CMEs and shocks, separately. This movie illustrates the recreation of a CME and shock that erupted from the Sun on March 7, 2011. The pink lines show the CME structure and the yellow lines show the structure of the shock - a side effect of the CME that can spark space weather events around Earth.Scientists: Ryun Kwon (George Mason University), Angelos Vourlidas (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)Image credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/GMU/APL/Joy NgWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Find this feature on NASA.gov.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518567, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12292, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12292/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Solar Highlights of 2016/2017", "description": "A collection of solar highlights featuring:- NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)- NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission- ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)- NASA's Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission || ", "release_date": "2016-06-24T15:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:48:30.877156-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 423139, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012200/a012292/SDO_Watches_Twisting_Solar_Material.00079_print.jpg", "filename": "SDO_Watches_Twisting_Solar_Material.00079_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "SDO Watches Twisting Solar MaterialSolar material twists above the sun’s surface in this close-up captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7-8, 2016, showcasing the turbulence caused by combative magnetic forces on the sun.This spinning cloud of solar material is part of a dark filament angling down from the upper left of the frame. Filaments are long, unstable clouds of solar material suspended above the sun’s surface by magnetic forces. SDO captured this video in wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, which is typically invisible to our eyes, but is colorized here in red for easy viewing.Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Find this image feature on NASA.gov.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518568, "type": "gallery_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 40300, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/mercury-transit-may2016/", "page_type": "Gallery", "title": "Mercury Transit May 2016", "description": "On Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury will transit across the sun. This rare event will begin at 7:11 AM EDT and will continue for more than seven hours. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will watch this transit from start to finish, ultra high definition images of the event in near real time as it unfolds. This is the first time SDO has captured this transit, which hasn't occurred since 2006. It won't occur again until 2019. NASA Scientists use the transit method to learn more about planets both in our solar system and beyond. Scientists can monitor the brightness of stars, looking for dips in that brightness that signal a transiting planet. Using the transit method, scientists can determine the distance of these planets from their stars, as well as their size and composition. Upcoming missions like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite will use the transit method to search for planets orbiting nearby stars.", "release_date": "2016-04-29T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2016-05-02T00:00:00-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 858877, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020200/a020236/Mercury_Transit_H264.hwshow.thumb.png", "filename": "Mercury_Transit_H264.hwshow.thumb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On Monday, May 9, 2016, Mercury will transit across the sun. This rare event will begin at 7:11 AM EDT and will continue for more than seven hours. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will watch this transit from start to finish, ultra high definition images of the event in near real time as it unfolds. This is the first time SDO has captured this transit, which hasn't occurred since 2006. It won't occur again until 2019. NASA Scientists use the transit method to learn more about planets both in our solar system and beyond. Scientists can monitor the brightness of stars, looking for dips in that brightness that signal a transiting planet. Using the transit method, scientists can determine the distance of these planets from their stars, as well as their size and composition. Upcoming missions like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite will use the transit method to search for planets orbiting nearby stars.", "width": 252, "height": 600, "pixels": 151200 } } }, { "id": 518569, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11905, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11905/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Space Weather Imagery of June 22 - 23, 2015 Events", "description": "The sun emitted a CME and mid-level solar flare, peaking at 2:23 p.m. EDT, on June 22, 2015. Again on June 25, 2015, a mid-level solar flare peaked at 4:16 a.m. EDT.NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings. This first flare is classified as an M6.6 flare and the second was M7.9. M-class flares are a tenth the size of the most intense flares, the X-class flares. The number provides more information about its strength. An M2 is twice as intense as an M1, an M3 is three times as intense, etc. || ", "release_date": "2015-06-23T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:49:39.987608-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 442361, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011900/a011905/SOHO_C3_6-18to6-23_1_print.jpg", "filename": "SOHO_C3_6-18to6-23_1_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Video of SOHO C3 showing CMEs on June 18 - 23, 2015. Credit: NASA/SOHO", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518570, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11642, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11642/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Solar Edge", "description": "How big is the sun’s atmosphere? In a word: huge. Like Earth, the sun’s atmosphere consists of multiple layers. It has a lower atmosphere, called the chromosphere, and a significantly larger upper atmosphere, called the corona. Although the exact boundaries of these regions are fuzzy, the outer limit of the corona is marked by the place where the sun’s solar wind breaks free. Using NASA’s STEREO spacecraft, scientists have found the extent of the corona is greater than previously thought, stretching some five million miles from the surface. The distance is equivalent to approximately six times the sun's length. Knowing this information will help guide the planning of future sun-observing missions. Watch the video to see solar material streaming from the sun. || ", "release_date": "2014-09-23T11:45:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:31.858870-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 451181, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011600/a011642/c-1024_print.jpg", "filename": "c-1024_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Scientists redefine the sun’s outer limits.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518573, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 30315, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30315/", "page_type": "Hyperwall Visual", "title": "World of Change: Solar Activity", "description": "The Sun’s activity waxes and wanes as magnetic field lines that are inside the Sun periodically break through to the surface. These breakthroughs produce a pair of sunspots of opposite magnetic polarity that travel together across the face of the Sun. The heightened magnetic activity associated with sunspots can lead to solar flares, coronal mass ejections. This series of images shows ultraviolet light (left) and sunspots (right) each spring from 1999-2010. Sunspots darken the visible surface of the Sun, producing intensely bright areas. The most recent forecast from the Space Weather Prediction Center is that solar cycle 24, which began in 2008, will be of below-average intensity, and will peak in May 2013. The small changes in solar irradiance that occur during the solar cycle exert a small influence on Earth’s climate. Images acquired from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraftReference: NASA’s Earth Observatory || ", "release_date": "2013-10-21T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-07-15T00:15:12.659341-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 429379, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030300/a030315/solar_activity_2002-2010_print.jpg", "filename": "solar_activity_2002-2010_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Solar activity over a 9 year period.", "width": 1024, "height": 574, "pixels": 587776 } } }, { "id": 518574, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10998, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10998/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "SOHO LASCO View of Approaching Venus Transit", "description": "The LASCO C2 and C3 coronographs on board the SOHO spacecraft have been watching the approach of Venus for its last solar transit until 2117.With coronagraphs, the Sun is being blocked by an occulting disk, seen here in blue, so that SOHO can observe the much fainter features in the Sun's corona. The actual size of the Sun is represented by the white disk. The transit of Venus begins tomorrow, June 5, at about 6pm Eastern Daylight Time, or about 10pm Universal Time. It will last approximately 6 hours. || ", "release_date": "2012-06-04T11:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:02.569340-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 475564, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010998/SOHO_C3_Still.jpg", "filename": "SOHO_C3_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Video of approaching Venus Transit from LASCO C3 covering May 31 to midday June 4.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518575, "type": "gallery_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 40120, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/2012venus-transit/", "page_type": "Gallery", "title": "2012 Venus Transit", "description": "This gallery contains visuals in support of the June 5, 2012 transit of Venus across the solar disk.", "release_date": "2012-05-18T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2012-06-14T00:00:00-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 857400, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/2012VenusTransit/2012_Venus_Transit_banner.jpg", "filename": "2012_Venus_Transit_banner.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "", "width": 109, "height": 572, "pixels": 62348 } } }, { "id": 518576, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10583, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10583/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Slices Through the Solar Interior", "description": "Scientists using SOHO/MDI data have looked just below the Sun's surface and clearly observed inward flowing material.The strong magnetic fields in the sunspots promote cooling. Cool material contracts and sinks at speeds of up to 3000 miles per hour. This drives an inward flow, like a planet-sized whirlpool, that holds the sunspot together as long as the field is strong enough. Scientists discovered this using a technique called acoustic tomography - a novel method similar to ultrasound diagnostics in medicine that uses sound waves to image structures inside the human body. Scientists also found that sunspots are surprisingly shallow. Conditions in sunspots change from cooler than the surrounding plasma to hotter than the surrounding plasma just 3000 miles below the surface. The cool part of a sunspot has the shape of a stack of two or three nickels. Sunspot magnetic fields block the flows that carry heat energy up from the hot solar interior. That results in higher temperatures below the blockage and cooler temperatures above. The downward flows mentioned above dissipate at the same depth. With these data one cannot get a sharp enough picture to really explain the details. Understanding sunspots is essential for understanding the 11-year solar cycle, solar flare explosions, and huge coronal mass ejections that affect life and society on Earth. || ", "release_date": "2010-03-16T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:20.196007-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 502183, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010500/a010583/sunssu2_0904.jpg", "filename": "sunssu2_0904.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Visualization from SOHO/MDI data of sunspot substructure.", "width": 720, "height": 486, "pixels": 349920 } } }, { "id": 518578, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3566, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3566/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Multi-Sun Composition", "description": "This movie is a composition of multiple solar datasets synchronized in time. The time frame is late October and early November of 2003, the time of some record-breaking solar activity.The background of the movie shows the view of the wide-angle coronagraphs (blue/white), or LASCO instruments, aboard SOHO. They show streams of electrons outbound from the Sun, part of the solar atmosphere. The central green image is the Sun in ultraviolet light from the EIT instrument. Note that flashes of solar flares in the ultraviolet quickly propagate out from the Sun and are visible in LASCO. These events are coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.Overlaid on the upper left is a better view of the EIT ultraviolet image at a wavelength of 195 angstroms (19.5 nanometers).On the lower left, the orange movie is the EIT ultraviolet movie at 304 angstroms (30.4 nanometers).On the upper right is a solar magnetogram, taken by the MDI instrument. The white regions correspond to positive (north) magnetic flux and the dark regions to negative (south) magnetic flux.The colors for the sequences above are not real. They are chosen by convention since the properties recorded by the cameras are not visible to the human eye.The final image on the lower right is also from MDI. It is a combination of several optical wavelengths and is the best representation from SOHO of the Sun in visible light, as we would see it through ground-based telescopes.The movies that are part of this composition are also available individually on the SVS site: Halloween Solar Storms 2003: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCOHalloween Solar Storms 2003: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 angstromsHalloween Solar Storms 2003: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 angstromsHalloween Solar Storms 2003: SOHO/MDI ContinuumHalloween Solar Storms 2003: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms || ", "release_date": "2008-12-18T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T22:01:57.390442-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 500710, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003566/Multi_View.0400.jpg", "filename": "Multi_View.0400.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The movie with six synchronized datasets.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518579, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3548, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3548/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Comparison: Solar Minimum from SOHO/EIT", "description": "This is a short movie of the Sun at the minimum of solar activity. This images are collected in ultraviolet light (a wavelength of 195 Å or 19.5 nanometers) which is only visible to space-based instruments. In visible light, few to now sunspots would be visible.At solar minimum, we see few bright active regions. The mottled look is from small 'hot spots' which last less than 48 hours. There are dark regions at the top and bottom of the Sun (corresponding to the north and south solar poles) created by solar magnetic field lines that connect to the interstellar magnetic field. A similar dark region, below the solar equator, is called a coronal hole, where open magnetic field lines enable particles to stream away at high speeds. || ", "release_date": "2008-09-10T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:05.328205-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 501944, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003548/eit195q.0050.jpg", "filename": "eit195q.0050.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This is a short movie of the Sun in ultraviolet light at solar minimum.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518580, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3549, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3549/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Comparison: Solar Maximum from SOHO/EIT", "description": "A short movie of the Sun at maximum solar activity as seen in ultraviolet light. These images are collected in ultraviolet light (a wavelength of 195Å or 19.5 nanometers) which is only visible to space-based instruments. In visible light, the bright white regions in these images would probably correspond to sunspots.At solar maximum, we see many bright active regions which tend to form in bands in the northern and southern hemispheres. Many of the active regions may eventually launch solar flares or coronal mass ejections (CME). || ", "release_date": "2008-09-10T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:05.413227-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 501958, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003549/eit195b.0050.jpg", "filename": "eit195b.0050.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A short movie of the Sun around the time of maximum solar activity.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518581, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3435, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3435/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): Data Collection Comparison", "description": "Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will dramatically increase our ability to collect data about the Sun. This visualization compares the temporal and spatial resolution of SOHO/EIT with TRACE. SDO will enable TRACE-like image and temporal resolution over the entire solar disk. This movie opens with a full-disk view of the Sun in ultraviolet light (195 angstroms) from SOHO/EIT using the traditional TRACE 'gold' color table. We zoom in on the active region on the western limb where the TRACE instrument is pointing and fade-in an inset of the higher-resolution TRACE data. To emphasize the comparison, the TRACE inset is moved aside (with a solid white border) revealing the matching EIT data view (enclosed in the faint white border). At this point, we step through the time series of data frames. In this movie, much of the TRACE imagery is collected at time intervals between 3 and 40 seconds. On the other hand, a new SOHO/EIT image is taken about every 12 minutes (720 seconds). The SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) will take full-disk solar images at four times the SOHO/EIT spatial resolution, a whopping 4096x4096, and at least 70 times the temporal resolution, 10 seconds or better per image. This creates a data rate over 1000x higher than SOHO/EIT. It is roughly equivalent to TRACE spatial and temporal resolution, but over the entire solar disk. || ", "release_date": "2007-08-14T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:36.868927-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 507859, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003400/a003435/SETcadence.0728.jpg", "filename": "SETcadence.0728.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This version of the movie includes ALL TRACE data frames, including cases where the spacecraft re-points for short times. This makes the movie jump around considerably more than the 'smooth' version.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518582, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3386, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3386/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Mercury Transit from SOHO/MDI", "description": "This is a view of the planet Mercury (the tiny moving black dot) as seen by the SOHO MDI.The narrow field-of-view for this camera mode necessitates the addition of black bars at the top and bottom of the frame to match HD720 resolution.This movie was generated from telemetry which has undergone a minimum of processing (to deliver quickly for the media) so data dropouts and other quick-processing artifacts may be visible. Special thanks to Steele Hill of the SOHO project for this effort. || ", "release_date": "2006-11-08T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:48.106503-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 509843, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003386/SOHO_MDI_Mercury_720p_web.png", "filename": "SOHO_MDI_Mercury_720p_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Movie of Mercury passing across the disk of the Sun.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } } }, { "id": 518583, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3336, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3336/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Visible Sun Revisited", "description": "Scientists working with the SOHO/MDI instrument have continued to improve on previous results. Since the first release (SOHO/MDI's 'Window' Through the Sun), improvements in helioseismology techniques have enabled them to extract more information from the same data. In this case, sonogram-type imaging of the solar far side (the side of the Sun NOT facing the Earth) has been improved to provide a more complete view of the farside. This is important in space weather forecasting as it enables us to see large sunspots and active regions before they are visible directly from the Earth. Active regions are a source of solar flares which can send high-energy protons towards the Earth. These protons can damage satellite electronics, endangering communications and weather forecasting, and are a health threat to astronauts. || ", "release_date": "2006-04-01T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:55.298324-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 511185, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003336/FarsideHemisphereEast_640x480_web.jpg", "filename": "FarsideHemisphereEast_640x480_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Opening with a view of the Sun visible from SOHO, we move around to the eastern limb (as seen from Earth) where we see the farside data constructed by helioseismology studies. During the movie, several sunspot groups move from the farside to the Earthside of the Sun.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518584, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2923, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2923/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI's 'Window' Through the Sun", "description": "Using the mathematical techniques, the SOHO/MDI view of the front side of the Sun can be processed to reveal features on the far side of the Sun. || ", "release_date": "2004-03-08T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:46.200494-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 520327, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002923/dualhem_0121_320x240_pre.jpg", "filename": "dualhem_0121_320x240_pre.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Frontside view of Sun, opening up to reveal farside imaging possible with MDI", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518585, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2764, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2764/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "High Resolution Solar Views From VAULT", "description": "This movie illustrates the VAULT camera pointings in relation to the rest of the Sun and views from other instruments. || ", "release_date": "2003-07-09T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:04.364171-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 522940, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002700/a002764/vault0335_web.jpg", "filename": "vault0335_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The first image from VAULT overlaying space-based solar imagery.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518586, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2765, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2765/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Hi-resolution Solar Views from VAULT: Active Region", "description": "This movie presents the VAULT imagery in the context of simultaneous multi-mission observations. We zoom-in to a subset of the image which focuses on an active solar region which shows plumes of hot gases rising above the solar surface. || ", "release_date": "2003-07-09T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:04.527771-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 522982, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002700/a002765/vaultActive0335_web.jpg", "filename": "vaultActive0335_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The first image from VAULT overlaying space-based solar imagery.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518587, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2766, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2766/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Hi-resolution Solar Views from VAULT: Quiet Region", "description": "This movie presents the VAULT imagery in the context of simultaneous multi-mission observations. We zoom-in to a subset of the image which focuses on a relatively calm solar region which still reveals a great deal of activity. || ", "release_date": "2003-07-09T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:04.685579-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 523021, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002700/a002766/vaultQuiet0335_web.jpg", "filename": "vaultQuiet0335_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The first image from VAULT overlaying space-based solar imagery.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518588, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2735, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2735/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Mercury Transit of the Sun", "description": "The planet Mercury is visible passing between the Sun and the TRACE spacecraft. Data collected on May 7, 2003, from 04:32:04 to 08:08:57. || a002735.00005_print.png (720x480) [358.5 KB] || a002735.00240_print.png (720x480) [528.2 KB] || MercuryTransit_640x480_pre.jpg (320x240) [5.5 KB] || MercuryTransit_320x240_pre.jpg (320x240) [5.3 KB] || a002735.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.3 MB] || MercuryTransit_640x480.mpg (640x480) [7.7 MB] || a002735.m2v (720x480) [10.4 MB] || 720x480_4x3_30p (720x486) [16.0 KB] || a002735.dv (720x480) [54.9 MB] || a002735.mp4 (640x480) [2.5 MB] || MercuryTransit_320x240.mpg (320x240) [2.0 MB] || ", "release_date": "2003-05-07T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:08.203925-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 523592, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002700/a002735/transit0097_web.jpg", "filename": "transit0097_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The dark spot is Mercury, just as it passes over the solar disk.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518589, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 20075, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20075/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "Wave", "description": "Like fans doing the wave at a stadium, large cell-like features called supergranules are moving in a vertical motion, giving the illusion of the solar surface rotating faster than the Sun. || ", "release_date": "2003-03-26T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:09.333033-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 523770, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020000/a020075/wave_pre.00002_print.jpg", "filename": "wave_pre.00002_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The sun surface in motion. Large cell-like features on the Sun called supergranules are seen as white stripes.", "width": 1024, "height": 698, "pixels": 714752 } } }, { "id": 518590, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2425, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2425/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "TRACE Observes Flows over Active Regions (Slow Play)", "description": "Zoom in on the Sun to show the outflow region. || a002425.00100_print.png (720x480) [478.8 KB] || a002425_pre.jpg (320x240) [9.0 KB] || a002425.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.3 MB] || a002425.dv (720x480) [150.9 MB] || a002425.mpg (320x240) [2.6 MB] || Full-disk view of the Sun with SOHO-EIT around the time of the TRACE observations. || trace0001.jpg (2560x1920) [386.8 KB] || trace0001_web.jpg (320x240) [9.3 KB] || trace0001.tif (2560x1920) [2.7 MB] || ", "release_date": "2002-05-15T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:34.303833-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527654, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002425/trace0371_web.jpg", "filename": "trace0371_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Close-up view of the outflow region with TRACE.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518591, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2426, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2426/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "TRACE Observes Flows over Active Regions (Fast Play)", "description": "Zoom in on the Sun to show the outflow region. || a002426.00100_print.png (720x480) [465.6 KB] || a002426_pre.jpg (320x240) [9.0 KB] || a002426.webmhd.webm (960x540) [3.1 MB] || a002426.dv (720x480) [89.3 MB] || a002426.mpg (320x240) [1.8 MB] || Full-disk view of the Sun with SOHO-EIT around the time of the TRACE observations. || tracefast0001.jpg (2560x1920) [386.8 KB] || tracefast0001_web.jpg (320x240) [9.3 KB] || tracefast0001.tif (2560x1920) [2.7 MB] || ", "release_date": "2002-05-15T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:34.411198-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 527669, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002400/a002426/tracefast0260_web.jpg", "filename": "tracefast0260_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Close-up view of the outflow region with TRACE.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518592, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2243, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2243/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI Views the Sun - 1998", "description": "This version projects the solar image on a sphere for improved perspective. || Movie of the solar disk from April 30 to June 24, 1998. || a002243.00020_print.png (720x480) [376.5 KB] || FullDisk1998_pre.jpg (320x240) [4.6 KB] || a002243.webmhd.webm (960x540) [712.6 KB] || a002243.dv (720x480) [30.9 MB] || FullDisk1998.mpg (320x240) [922.3 KB] || ", "release_date": "2001-11-06T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:52.751193-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 530296, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002243/FD1998.0012_web.jpg", "filename": "FD1998.0012_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Sunspots on the solar disk.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518593, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2244, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2244/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI Views the Sun - 2001", "description": "This version projects the solar image on a sphere for improved perspective. || SOHO-MDI views the Sun from March 1 to May 31, 2001. || a002244.00095_print.png (720x480) [393.7 KB] || FD2001_pre.jpg (320x238) [4.6 KB] || a002244.webmhd.webm (960x540) [4.2 MB] || a002244.dv (720x480) [157.8 MB] || FD2001.mpg (352x240) [6.3 MB] || ", "release_date": "2001-11-06T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:52.833549-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 530308, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002244/FD2001.0393_web.jpg", "filename": "FD2001.0393_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "SOHO-MDI views a large sunspot group in 2001.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518594, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2268, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2268/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI Views the Sun - 1998", "description": "This version projects the solar image on a flat plane. It runs at a third of the speed of the original version. || SOHO-MDI images the sun from April 30 to June 24, 1998. || a002268.00095_print.png (720x480) [363.2 KB] || a002268_pre.jpg (320x240) [4.3 KB] || a002268.webmhd.webm (960x540) [1.5 MB] || a002268.dv (720x480) [75.5 MB] || a002268.mpg (320x240) [995.0 KB] || ", "release_date": "2001-11-06T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:52.921747-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 530320, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002268/mdiB0012_web.jpg", "filename": "mdiB0012_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A few sunspots visible to SOHO-MDI.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518595, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2269, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2269/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "SOHO/MDI Views the Sun - 2001", "description": "This version projects the solar image on a flat plane. || A view of the Sun from SOHO-MDI from March thru May 2001. || a002269.00095_print.png (720x480) [379.6 KB] || Sunspots2001_pre.jpg (320x238) [4.2 KB] || a002269.webmhd.webm (960x540) [3.6 MB] || a002269.dv (720x480) [157.8 MB] || Sunspots2001.mpg (352x240) [6.3 MB] || ", "release_date": "2001-11-06T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:57:53.014316-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 530332, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002269/mdiA0393_web.jpg", "filename": "mdiA0393_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "SOHO-MDI views a large sunspot group in 2001.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379830, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379830", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "The Sun's Magnetism", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518638, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11419, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11419/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Pole Reversal", "description": "Like a bar magnet, the sun has a magnetic north and south pole. The comparison to a simple bar magnet ends there, however, as the sun's magnetic fields are on the move. In fact, approximately every 11 years the polarity of the sun’s northern and southern hemisphere flips. This change is part of a regular cycle called the solar cycle. Each cycle is defined by periods of high and low solar activity caused by the movement of magnetic field lines that extend out from the sun. Now, a new animation created from data collected by the ESA/NASA SOHO spacecraft shows how migrating magnetic field lines result in a reversal of the sun’s polarity. Watch the video to see the evolution of the sun’s magnetic field from January 1997 to December 2013. || ", "release_date": "2014-01-07T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:19.737167-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 459553, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011400/a011419/cover-1024.jpg", "filename": "cover-1024.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "See the sun’s magnetic field do a flip.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 518639, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 4124, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4124/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Sun's Magnetic Field", "description": "During the course of the approximately 11 year sunspot cycle, the magnetic field of the Sun reverses. The last time this happened was around the year 2000. Using magnetograms from the SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI instruments, it is possible to examine possible configurations of the magnetic field above the photosphere. These magnetic configurations are important in understanding potential conditions of severe space weather.The magnetic field in this animation is constructed using the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. The PFSS model is one of the simplest yet realistic models we can explore. Using the solar magnetograms as the 'source surface' of the field, it builds the field structure from the photosphere out to about two solar radii (an altitude of 1 solar radius). These visuals were generated using the SolarSoft package. In this visualization, the white magnetic field lines are considered 'closed'. The move up, and then return to the solar surface. The green and violet lines represenent field lines that are considered 'open'. Green represents positive magnetic polarity, and violet represents negative polarity. These field lines do not connect back to the Sun but with more distant magnetic fields in space. These field lines act as easy 'roads' for the high-speed solar wind. || ", "release_date": "2013-12-05T18:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:22.920202-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 460247, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004124/PFSS_0400.jpg", "filename": "PFSS_0400.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Evolution of the solar magnetic field from 1997 to 2013. Version with time-stamp written in the image file.", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } }, { "id": 518596, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11277, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11277/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Hot Lines", "description": "Magnetic field lines dance above the surface of the sun. Called coronal loops, these lines are difficult to observe from afar, since they are invisible. Scientists can observe them in two ways: by watching the visible solar material that flows along the lines or by modeling them using computer simulations. Studying these formations help us understand the way energy travels on and around the sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, is a sun-observing spacecraft that can measure and depict distortions in the sun’s magnetic field. Using data collected by the spacecraft, scientists created a virtual, 3D model of the field lines. Watch the video to explore the loops. || ", "release_date": "2013-07-09T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:01.385247-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 463933, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011277/cover-1920.jpg", "filename": "cover-1920.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Scientists model the intense magnetic fields around the sun.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518597, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3496, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3496/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Solar Dynamo: Plasma Flows", "description": "In this visualization, we illustrate the fluid flows in the Sun which drive the solar magnetic dynamo. The flows can be considered as a combination of two components, a toroidal component and a meridional component. The toroidal flow corresponds to the rotational motion of the Sun. In the cut-away view, this motion is represented by the streaking flow vectors. The color code of the cross-section on the right-hand side illustrates the rotational period of this flow. Here we see that flow near the equator (in violet) takes about 24.5 days to make it all the way around the Sun. As we move to higher latitudes, we see that the flow gets steadily slower, increasing the time it takes to go around the Sun to as much as 34 days (in red) near the poles. A non-uniform fluid flow such as this is known as differential rotation. This motion in the interior can be measured at the solar surface through techniques of helioseismology.Deeper into the Sun, we see the different colors of the outer layers transition to a solid color (olive green). This transition point is called the tachocline. It is the boundary between the outer zone of the Sun where thermal energy is transferred by convection (the convective zone), and the inner region of the Sun where thermal energy is transferred by radiation (the radiative zone). The radiative zone is believed to rotate as a solid body with a period of about 28 days in this model.The yellow and white center in this model represents the solar radiative zone.In the cross-section on the left-side, we represent the other component of the flow, called the meridional flow, which moves plasma between the equator and the polar regions.These flows of solar plasma are used as input data for dynamo modeling (see The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Poloidal Fields and The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Radial Fields.) || ", "release_date": "2008-08-19T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T00:00:34.587612-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 500866, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003400/a003496/Dynamo.Flows.1000.jpg", "filename": "Dynamo.Flows.1000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie starts with a view of the Sun with sunspots changing as part of the solar cycle. The surface opens to reveal the interior flows of plasma.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518598, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3521, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3521/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Poloidal Magnetic Fields", "description": "Using the solar plasma flows as input (see The Solar Dynamo: Plasma Flows), the equations of magnetohydrodynamics, and 'seeding' the calculations with an initial small magnetic field, one can compute how a magnetic field can grow and be maintained. This is the dynamo process, the net result being that part of the Sun's outflowing thermal convective energy from nuclear processes is used to create the magnetic field.In this view of the solar dynamo mechanism, we examine the evolution of the toroidal magnetic field, the field intensity represented by colors on the right-hand cross-section, and the poloidal magnetic potential field, represented by colors on the left-hand cross-section. The poloidal magnetic potential is a scalar quantity that contains information about the radial and latitudinal magnetic field vectors. To see the radial magnetic field, see The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Radial Magnetic Fields.In this visualization, the magnetic field lines (represented by the 'copper wire' structures) are 'snapshots' of the field structure constructed at each time step of the model. These field lines should not be considered as 'moving' or 'stretching' as the model evolves in time. Even this simplified model reproduces a number of characteristics observed in the actual solar magnetic field. Cyclic behavior with oscillations in the magnetic field amplitude.Magnetic regions at the surface migrate from high latitudes towards the equator as the solar cycle progresses. This reproduces the \"Butterfly Diagram\" pattern.Surface magnetic polarities reverse with each cycleBecause this model is axisymmetric, it cannot simulate non-axisymmetric features such as active longitudes. || ", "release_date": "2008-08-19T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T00:00:35.645697-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 500907, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003521/Dynamo.Fields.1000.jpg", "filename": "Dynamo.Fields.1000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie starts with a view of the Sun with sunspots changing as part of the solar cycle. The surface opens to reveal the interior magnetic field structure.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518599, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3583, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3583/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Radial Magnetic Fields", "description": "Using the solar plasma flows as input (see The Solar Dynamo: Plasma Flows), the equations of magnetohydrodynamics, and 'seeding' the calculations with an initial small magnetic field, one can compute how a magnetic field can grow and be maintained. This is the dynamo process, the net result being that part of the Sun's outflowing thermal convective energy from nuclear processes is used to create the magnetic field.In this view of the solar dynamo mechanism, we examine the evolution of the toroidal magnetic field, intensities represented by color on the right-hand cross-section, and the radial magnetic field, represented on the left-hand cross-section. To see the poloidal magnetic vector potential, see The Solar Dynamo: Toroidal and Poloidal Magnetic Fields.In this visualization, the magnetic field lines (represented by the 'copper wire' structures) are 'snapshots' of the field structure constructed at each time step of the model. These field lines should not be considered as 'moving' or 'stretching' as the model evolves in time.Even this simplified model reproduces a number of characteristics observed in the actual solar magnetic field.Cyclic behavior with oscillations in the magnetic field amplitude.Magnetic regions at the surface migrate from high latitudes towards the equator. This reproduces the \"Butterfly Diagram\" pattern.Surface magnetic polarities reverse with each cycleBecause this model is axisymmetric, it cannot simulate non-axisymmetric features such as active longitudes. || ", "release_date": "2008-08-19T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T22:01:58.667680-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 500949, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003583/Dynamo.Radial.1000.jpg", "filename": "Dynamo.Radial.1000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie starts with a view of the Sun with sunspots changing as part of the solar cycle. The surface opens to reveal the interior magnetic field structure.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 518600, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3346, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3346/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Grand Tour of the Coronal Loops Model", "description": "This is a longer coronal loops tour combining components of the two previous versions (Animation IDs 3286 and 3287). The solar model is constructed from magnetogram data collected by SOHO/MDI. Because we do not see the full solar surface at any one time, the magnetograms collected over the course of a solar rotation are processed through a time-evolving solar surface model which provides a snapshot of the surface at a fixed time. The resulting magnetogram is then processed through the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model which constructs the magnetic field above the solar surface. The magnetic field around the Sun is then analyzed for field lines, which creates the loop structures we see in the model. Hot plasma tends to flow along the magnetic field lines, creating the coronal loops. These loops are only visible at the higher temperatures corresponding to ultraviolet light, in this case, 195 angstroms, one of the filter wavelengths of SOHO/EIT. For this version, we color the coronal loops green for ready comparison to the EIT 195 angstrom imagery using the EIT standard color table. || ", "release_date": "2006-03-30T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:55.405386-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 511250, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003346/loopsDeluxeHR.1245.jpg", "filename": "loopsDeluxeHR.1245.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "We begin our flight through the loops, noting that the more prominent regions on the surface have a higher density of field lines.", "width": 2560, "height": 1920, "pixels": 4915200 } } }, { "id": 518601, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3286, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3286/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Flight through the Coronal Loops", "description": "Here we illustrate the potential benefits of the 3-D views of the Sun which STEREO will provide. Starting with a simple 2-D EIT ultraviolet image from SOHO, we transition to a 3-D model and move through the coronal loops which are constructed along solar magnetic fields. The solar model is constructed from magnetogram data collected by SOHO/MDI. Because we do not see the full solar surface at any one time, the magnetograms collected over the course of a solar rotation are processed through a time-evolving solar surface model to provide a snapshot of the surface at a fixed time. The resulting magnetogram is then processed through the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. Coronal loops are visible at the higher temperatures of ultraviolet light, in this case, 195 angstroms, the filter wavelength of SOHO/EIT. For this version, we color the coronal loops green for ready comparison to the EIT 195 angstrom imagery using the EIT 'standard color table'. || ", "release_date": "2005-10-27T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:01.275937-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 512293, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003200/a003286/loopsTourHR.0590_web.jpg", "filename": "loopsTourHR.0590_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "We pass over another group of active regions.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518602, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3287, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3287/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Rotating Tour of Solar Coronal Loops", "description": "A slow rotating tour of a data-based coronal loop model. This version is designed for continuous loop play. The solar model is constructed from magnetogram data collected by SOHO/MDI. Because we do not see the full solar surface at any one time, the magnetograms collected over the course of a solar rotation are processed through a time-evolving solar surface model to provide a snapshot of the surface at a fixed time. The resulting magnetogram is then processed through the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. Coronal loops are visible at the higher temperatures of ultraviolet light, in this case, 195 angstroms, the filter wavelength of SOHO/EIT. || ", "release_date": "2005-10-27T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:01.396167-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 512324, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003200/a003287/loopsOrbitHR.0180.jpg", "filename": "loopsOrbitHR.0180.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Another angle of the model showing a number of active regions.", "width": 2560, "height": 1920, "pixels": 4915200 } } }, { "id": 518603, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3211, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3211/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Space Weather Forecasting: Quiet Times Ahead", "description": "SOHO/MDI magnetograms combined with the Potential-Field Source-Surface (PFSS) model can be used to generate a model of magnetic field lines in the lower part of the solar corona. When these models are compared to the loops visible in TRACE imagery, a good match (as in this case) indicates that the region will not generate flare events over the next few days. || ", "release_date": "2005-08-16T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:08.255877-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 513619, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003200/a003211/quietHR_alt.0619.jpg", "filename": "quietHR_alt.0619.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "but over two days later, no flares have occurred.", "width": 2560, "height": 1920, "pixels": 4915200 } } }, { "id": 518604, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3212, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3212/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Space Weather Forecasting: Active Times Ahead", "description": "SOHO/MDI magnetograms combined with the Potential-Field Source-Surface (PFSS) model can be used to generate a model of magnetic field lines in the lower part of the solar corona. When these models are compared to the loops visible in TRACE imagery, a bad match (as in this case) indicates that the region will generate flare events over the next few days. || ", "release_date": "2005-08-16T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:08.362291-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 513636, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003200/a003212/activeHR_far.0130.jpg", "filename": "activeHR_far.0130.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Overlay of the PFSS model on the active region.", "width": 2560, "height": 1920, "pixels": 4915200 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 379831, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/solarand-heliospheric-observatory-soho/#media_group_379831", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 518614, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3956, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3956/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween Solar Storms - 2003", "description": "This is a 1024x1024 pixel version of solar storms providing a more complete view of the SOHO/LASCO/C3 field-of-view.Here is a view of the solar disk in 195 Å ultraviolet light (colored green in this movie) and the Sun's extended atmosphere, or corona, (blue and white in this movie). The corona is visible to the SOHO/LASCO coronagraph instruments, which block the bright disk of the Sun so the significantly fainter corona can be seen. In this movie, the inner coronagraph (designated C2) is combined with the outer coronagraph (C3). This movie covers a two week period in October and November 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing.As the movie plays, we can observe a number of features of the active Sun. Long streamers radiate outward from the Sun and wave gently due to their interaction with the solar wind. The bright white regions are visible due to their high density of free electrons which scatter the light from the photosphere towards the observer. Protons and other ionized atoms are there as well, but are not as visible since they do not interact with photons as strongly as electrons. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are occasionally observed launching from the Sun. Some of these launch particle events which can saturate the cameras with snow-like artifacts.Also visible in the coronagraphs are stars and planets. Stars are seen to drift slowly to the right, carried by the relative motion of the Sun and the Earth. The planet Mercury is visible as the bright point moving left of the Sun. The horizontal 'extension' in the image is called 'blooming' and is due to a charge leakage along the readout wires in the CCD imager in the camera. || ", "release_date": "2012-09-20T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-12-29T00:02:24.972252-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 473257, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003900/a003956/coronagraphs_stand.SQ1024.00100.jpg", "filename": "coronagraphs_stand.SQ1024.00100.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A 1Kx1K movie of the 2003 solar storms seem by SOHO.", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } }, { "id": 518605, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3535, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3535/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween Storms 2003: SOHO/EIT and TRACE at 195 Angstroms", "description": "This visualization compares the full-disk solar view of SOHO/EIT (green, on the left) with the small field of view of the TRACE ultraviolet telescope (gold, on the right). The yellow border of the TRACE imagery is projected on the appropriate location on the green EIT imagery. Notice that TRACE can track features as they move across the solar disk. The instrument pointing is adjusted on a regular basis, which can produce a considerable amount of jittering in the image. This is a variation on the treatment of the same data as Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): Data Collection Comparison.Note that this movie does not play synchronous with the other animations that are part of the SDO Prelaunch package. || ", "release_date": "2008-08-15T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-06-24T15:39:21.438091-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 503190, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003535/EITTRACEside_stand.HD1080i.05000.jpg", "filename": "EITTRACEside_stand.HD1080i.05000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A synchronous play of SOHO/EIT (left) and TRACE (right) imagery from the 2003 Halloween Solar Storms.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518606, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3500, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3500/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 Angstroms", "description": "Here is a view of the full solar disk during a two-week period in October and November of 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing. The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) collects solar images in an extremely short wavelength of ultraviolet light, not visible from the surface of the Earth. The narrow wavelength band at 195 angstroms corresponds (19.5 nanometers) corresponds to a spectral line of multiply-ionized iron atoms. This movie is part of a series of movies with matching cadence designed to play synchronously with each other. The other movies in this series are Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 A Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Continuum Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO For more information, visit the SOHO project page. || ", "release_date": "2008-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-06-24T15:39:09.357595-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 505987, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003500/EIT195full_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "filename": "EIT195full_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie displays nearly two weeks of EIT 195 Ångstrom data from around Halloween, 2003.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518607, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3501, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3501/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 Angstroms", "description": "Here is a view of the full solar disk during a two-week period in October and November of 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing. The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) collects solar images in an extremely short wavelength of ultraviolet light, not visible from the surface of the Earth. The narrow wavelength band at 304 Ångstroms corresponds (30.4 nanometers) corresponds to a spectral line of multiply-ionized iron atoms. This movie is part of a series of movies with matching cadence designed to play synchronously with each other. The other movies in this series are Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 ÅHalloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Continuum Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO For more information, visit the SOHO project page. || ", "release_date": "2008-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-02-02T22:01:13.553865-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 505998, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003501/EIT304full_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "filename": "EIT304full_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie displays nearly two weeks of EIT 304 Ångstrom data from around Halloween 2003.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518608, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3502, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3502/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Continuum", "description": "Here is a view of the full solar disk during a two-week period in October and November of 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing. The Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI) records images at several very narrow wavelength bands in the visible light. These images are often used as proxies for white-light solar images. This movie is part of a series of movies with matching cadence designed to play synchronously with each other. The other movies in this series are Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 angstroms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 angstroms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO For more information, visit the SOHO project page. || ", "release_date": "2008-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-06-24T15:39:09.420616-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 506010, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003502/MDIcontinuum_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "filename": "MDIcontinuum_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie displays nearly two weeks of MDI continuum data from around Halloween 2003.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518609, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3503, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3503/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms", "description": "Here is a view of the full solar disk during a two-week period in October and November of 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing.The Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI) takes images of the Sun at five very narrow wavelength bands and four different polarizations in visible light. For this sequence, the images are processed in a form that reveals the magnetic field strength on the solar photosphere. Other combinations of the images act as white-light images and dopplergrams (which measure the velocity of the solar 'surface').This movie is part of a series of movies with matching cadence designed to play synchronously with each other. The other movies in this series are Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 angstroms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 angstroms Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Continuum Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO For more information, visit the SOHO project page.. || ", "release_date": "2008-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-06-24T15:39:09.451453-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 506021, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003503/MDImagneto_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "filename": "MDImagneto_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie displays nearly two weeks of MDI magnetogram data from around Halloween 2003.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518610, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 3504, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3504/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO", "description": "Here is a view of the solar disk in 195 Å ultraviolet light (colored green in this movie) and the Sun's extended atmosphere, or corona, (blue and white in this movie). The corona is visible to the SOHO/LASCO coronagraph instruments, which block the bright disk of the Sun so the significantly fainter corona can be seen. In this movie, the inner coronagraph (designated C2) is combined with the outer coronagraph (C3). This movie covers a two week period in October and November 2003 which exhibited some of the largest solar activity events since the advent of space-based solar observing.As the movie plays, we can observe a number of features of the active Sun. Long streamers radiate outward from the Sun and wave gently due to their interaction with the solar wind. The bright white regions are visible due to their high density of free electrons which scatter the light from the photosphere towards the observer. Protons and other ionized atoms are there as well, but are not as visible since they do not interact with photons as strongly as electrons. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are occasionally observed launching from the Sun. Some of these launch particle events which can saturate the cameras with snow-like artifacts.Also visible in the coronagraphs are stars and planets. Stars are seen to drift slowly to the right, carried by the relative motion of the Sun and the Earth. The planet Mercury is visible as the bright point moving left of the Sun. The horizontal 'extension' in the image is called 'blooming' and is due to a charge leakage along the readout wires in the CCD imager in the camera.This movie is part of a series of movies with matching cadence designed to play synchronously with each other. The other movies in this series are Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 195 angstromHalloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/EIT Ultraviolet, 304 angstromHalloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Continuum Halloween 2003 Solar Storms: SOHO/MDI Magnetograms For more information, visit the SOHO project page.. || ", "release_date": "2008-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-12-29T22:01:09.387297-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 506033, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003504/coronagraphs_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "filename": "coronagraphs_stand.HD1080i.01000.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie plays nearly two weeks of SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO imagery from around Halloween 2003.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 518611, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2959, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2959/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween Solar Storms from SOHO/EIT, 195 Angstroms", "description": "This view from SOHO/EIT in the 195 angstrom band, shows the multitude of solar flares released in the Fall of 2003 as a group of active regions rotated back into view. This movie is synchronized to play with animation IDs 2960 and 2961. For more information on how X-ray solar flares are classified (B, C, M, X), visit SpaceWeather.com. || ", "release_date": "2004-07-08T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:39.763117-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519266, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002959/eit195hr.0417_web.jpg", "filename": "eit195hr.0417_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The X17 event shown here launched a CME at the Earth whose impact was observed the next day by Earth-orbiting satellites.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518612, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2960, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2960/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween Solar Storms from SOHO/EIT, 304 Angstroms", "description": "This view from SOHO/EIT in the 304 angstrom band, shows a group of active regions rotating back into view. This movie is synchronized to play with animation IDs 2959 and 2961. One obvious difference is that solar flares are not as visible at this wavelength than at the 195 angstrom band. The 304 angstrom filter was not used as frequently as the 195 angstrom filter, so this movie has more jumps in its time coverage. For more information on how X-ray solar flares are classified (B, C, M, X), visit SpaceWeather.com. || ", "release_date": "2004-07-08T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:39.865629-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519286, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002960/eit304hr.0147_web.jpg", "filename": "eit304hr.0147_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A solar prominence appears clearly in this band, yet has no obvious counterpart visible in the 195 angstrom band.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } }, { "id": 518613, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 2961, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2961/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Halloween Solar Storms from SOHO/EIT and SOHO/LASCO", "description": "This movie is a combination of SOHO/EIT at 195 angstroms as well as the LASCO/C2 and C3 cameras. At this scale we can see the flashes from solar flares in SOHO/EIT (green) and the subsequent coronal mass ejections in SOHO/LASCO/C2 (red) and SOHO/LASCO/C3 (blue). This movie is synchronized to play with animation IDs 2960 and 2959. For more information on how X-ray solar flares are classified (B, C, M, X), visit SpaceWeather.com. || ", "release_date": "2004-07-08T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:56:40.003275-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 519321, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002900/a002961/eitlascohr.1301_web.jpg", "filename": "eitlascohr.1301_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The last big X-class flare as the active region rotates back to the far side of the Sun.", "width": 320, "height": 240, "pixels": 76800 } } } ], "extra_data": {} } ] }