Obrazem: Sluneční erupce na snímcích NASA

Přehled fotografií
  • Artist's concept of a space weather, the factors that cause it and technology impacted by it. Credit: NASA
  • Glory’s Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) will measure how solar activity varies over time. Credit: NASA
  • Satelity Stereo dorazily na místo určení
  • 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.
  • This picture indicates temperature distribution in the sun's corona, with dark areas representing cooler regions and bright areas being hotter. Credit: NASA
  • Sluneční satelit
  • 01.19.12 M3.2 Solar Flare and CME Still from video of Jan 19, 2012 long duration solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) which is expect to reach Earth on Jan 21, 2012. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • The Sun at Solstice The Sun has reached its northernmost point in planet Earth's sky marking a season change and the first solstice of the year 2004. We celebrate the arrival of summer with this false-color composite of three images from the space-based Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a mission of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). All three images are made in extreme ultraviolet light, but each individual image highlights a different temperature range in the upper solar atmosphere: Red at 2 million, green at 1.5 million, and blue at 1 million degrees Celsius (3.6 million, 2.7 million, and 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit). The combined image shows bright active regions strewn across the solar disk, which would otherwise appear as dark groups of sunspots in visible light images. SOHO's spectacular images are also featured in the cover article from this month's National Geographic magazine. Image From Astronomy Picture of the Day, Credit: NASA/ESA
  • Light for the Ages Today, our sun reaches its northernmost point in planet Earth's sky. Called a solstice, the date traditionally marks a change of seasons -- from spring to summer in Earth's Northern Hemisphere and from fall to winter in Earth's Southern Hemisphere. In this image from 2007, NASA's Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) satellites provided the first three-dimensional images of the sun. STEREO, a two-year mission that launched October 2006, provided a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NRL/GSFC
  • Multiple-wavelength View of X5.4 Solar Flare This image is from the March 6, 2012 X5.4 flare, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in multiple wavelengths (94, 193, 335 angstrom. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • Crackling with Solar Flares Fast-growing sunspot 1112 is crackling with solar flares. So far, none of the blasts has hurled a substantial CME, or coronal mass ejection, toward Earth. In addition, a vast filament of magnetism is cutting across the sun's southern hemisphere. This filament is so large it spans a distance greater than the separation of Earth and the moon. A bright 'hot spot' just north of the filament's midpoint is UV radiation from sunspot 1112. The proximity is no coincidence; the filament appears to be rooted in the sunspot below. If the sunspot flares, it could cause the entire structure to erupt. Thus far, none of the flares has destabilized the filament. Image Credit: NASA
  • Snímek pořízený sondou SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) v půli června dokazuje, že Slunce vstupuje do periody s nižší solární aktivitou.
  • This image of the corona was taken with the Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope and shows the complex, hot plasmas that make up the corona
  • A sequence of pictures taken by the IMAGE satellite of an aurora borealis sequence. From space, the aurora appear as a halo of light centered on the magnetic north and south poles. (Courtesy: IMAGE-FUV)
  • CME on March 25, 2008 as Seen by SOHO By analyzing the size and shape of the bow shock on this March 25, 2008 coronal mass ejection (the loop extending to the left) scientists have devised a technique to measure magnetic fields near the sun. Credit: NASA/SOHO
  • Solar Chromosphere SUMI’s instruments are designed to study magnetic fields of the sun’s chromosphere -- a thin layer of solar atmosphere sandwiched between the visible surface, photosphere and its atmosphere, the corona. Hinode, a collaborative mission of the space agencies of Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, captured these very dynamic pictures of our sun's chromosphere on Jan. 12, 2007. Image credit: JAXA/NASA
  • Independence Day Solar Fireworks This image, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows the M5.3 class solar flare that peaked on July 4, 2012, at 5:55 AM EDT. The flare is shown in the 131 Angstrom wavelength, a wavelength that is particularly good for capturing the radiation emitted from flares. The wavelength is typically colorized in teal as shown here. Image Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA/Helioviewer
  • Coronal Hole on the Sun This image of a coronal hole on the sun bears a remarkable resemblance to the 'Sesame Street' character Big Bird. Coronal holes are regions where the sun's corona is dark. These features were discovered when X-ray telescopes were first flown above the Earth's atmosphere to reveal the structure of the corona across the solar disc. Coronal holes are associated with 'open' magnetic field lines and are often found at the sun’s poles. The high-speed solar wind is known to originate in coronal holes. The solar wind escaping from this hole will reach Earth around June 5-7, 2012. Image Credit: NASA/AIA
  • Další pohle zobrazující koronální díru na Slunci
  • Then and Now A side-by-side comparison of the Sun from precisely two years ago (left, from SOHO) to the present (right, from Solar Dynamics Observatory) dramatically illustrates just how active the Sun has become (Mar. 27-28, 2011). Viewed in two similar wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, the Sun now sports numerous active regions that appear as lighter areas that are capable of producing solar storms. Two years ago the Sun was in a very quiet period (solar minimum). The Sun's maximum period of activity is predicted to be around 2013, so we still have quite a ways to go.
  • The View From Easter Island On July 11, 2010, the new moon passed directly in front of the sun, causing a total solar eclipse in the South Pacific. In this image, the solar eclipse is shown in gray and white from a photo provided by the Williams College Expedition to Easter Island and was embedded with an image of the sun’s outer corona taken by the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on the SOHO spacecraft and shown in red false color. LASCO uses a disk to blot out the bright sun and the inner corona so that the faint outer corona can be monitored and studied. Further, the dark silhouette of the moon was covered with an image of the sun taken in extreme ultraviolet light at about the same time by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The composite brings out the correlation of structures in the inner and outer corona. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Williams College Eclipse Expedition
  • Dramatic prominences can sometimes be seen looming just beyond the edge of the sun. A solar prominence is a cloud of solar gas held just above the surface by the Sun's magnetic field. The Earth would easily fit below the prominence on the left. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelling hot gas into the Solar System. Although very hot, prominences typically appear dark when viewed against the Sun, since they are slightly cooler than the surface. The above image in false color was taken on June 1 from Stuttgart, Germany with an amateur telescope and camera. Photo Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (AstroMeeting)
  • Sun Storm! The sun-orbiting SOHO spacecraft has imaged many erupting filaments lifting off the active solar surface and blasting enormous bubbles of magnetic plasma into space. This image shows the sun in ultraviolet light, while the field of view extends over 2 million kilometers, or 1.243 million miles, from the solar surface. While hints of these explosive sun storms, called coronal mass ejections or CMEs, were discovered by spacecraft in the early 1970s, this dramatic image is part of a detailed record of this CME's development from the presently operating SOHO spacecraft. At a minimum, solar activity cycle CMEs occur about once a week, with maximum rates of two or more per day. Strong CMEs may profoundly influence space weather and those directed toward our planet can have serious effects. Image credit: NASA/JPL
  • SDO Captures X1.9 Class Solar Flare The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of the X1.9 class solar flare from November 3, 2011. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • Sunspot 1515 Release X1.1 Class Solar Flare This close-up image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows the July 6, 2012 X-class flare captured in the 171 Angstrom wavelength. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • X1 Solar Flare Eruption on March 5, 2012 Screen capture of X1 class flare eruption from active region 1429 on March 5, 2012 as seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light (171 angstrom). Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • M7.9 Class Solar Flare on March 13, 2012 NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an M7.9 class flare on March 13, 2012 at 1:29 p.m. EDT. It is shown here in the 131 Angstrom wavelength, a wavelength particularly good for seeing solar flares and a wavelength that is typically colorized in teal. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • SDO Combined Views of the Sun This image combines two sets of observations of the sun at 10:45 AM EDT, July 12, 2012 from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to give an impression of what the sun looked like shortly before it unleashed an X-class flare beginning at 12:11 PM EDT. The image incorporates light in the 171 Angstrom wavelength, which shows off giant loops of solar material overlying the middle of the sun over Active Region 1520 where the flare originated. The second set of observations is called a magnetogram, which highlights magnetic fields on the sun. Together these kinds of observations can help scientists understand the magnetic properties of the sun that lead to giant explosions like flares. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA/HMI
  • This is an image of the extremely powerful solar flare on November 4, 2003, taken by the SOHO spacecraft. The image reveals hot gas in the solar atmosphere in false color, and the flare is the bright, white area on the right edge of the sun. The horizontal line through the flare is not real; it's just the result of the flare's intense light saturating the detector in the instrument making the image: SOHO's Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. Credit: The European Space Agency and NASA.
  • AR1515 Says Farewell with M6.9 Class Solar Flare This image was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shortly after the peak of the M6.9 flare and shows a giant eruption of solar material ­ over 20 Earths long ­shooting off the lower right side of the sun in this image. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • TRACE gives scientists a close-up view of the sunspot region 486 thanks to higher spatial and temporal resolution. Click for higher resolution version. Credit: NASA / LMSAL The strongest flare of this solar cycle, in April 2000, a category X20 flare, was not directed at Earth. The Sun's activity varies on an 11-year cycle, with the strongest "solar max" years in 2000-2001. Powerful flares often erupt during the declining phase of the cycle, however, says Fleck. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can be associated with solar flares, though scientists don't know which comes first. The violent discharges of electrically charged gas from the Sun's corona are the largest explosions in the solar system. CMEs launch up to 10 billion tons of ionized gas into space at speeds of one to two million miles an hour. CMEs can cause magnetic storms by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape and accelerating electrically charged particles trapped within. The increased solar activity is also having an effect on the International Space Station. Tuesday and Wednesday, the Expedition 8 crew of Commander Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri will spend brief periods of time in the aft end of the Zvezda Service Module, which is the location aboard the Station most shielded from higher levels of radiation. The crew will spend about 20 minutes in Zvezda, twice on each orbit of the Earth for about three orbits, until the station phases out of the high radiation areas (high magnetic latitudes). Asking the crew to periodically and briefly relocate to Zvezda is not unprecedented. Expeditions 2 & 3 briefly "avoided" high radiation periods in April and November 2001.
  • Pre-July 4 Fireworks From the Sun The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this M5.6 class solar flare on July 2, 2012 at 6:52am EDT. It was accompanied by a "non" Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME). The flare came from a large sunspot called AR1515, located in the southern hemisphere of the sun. The flare caused brief radio interference over Europe. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • SDO Captures M4.7 Class Flare - Zoom The sun unleashed an M4.7 class flare at 8:32 EDT on May 9, 2012 as captured here by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The flare was over quickly and there was no coronal mass ejection associated with it. This image is shown in the 131 Angstrom wavelength, a wavelength that is typically colorized in teal and that provided the most detailed picture of this particular flare. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • Big, Bright Flare Just as an active region rotated into view, it unleashed a large (X1.4 class) solar flare (Sept. 22, 2011) as well as several smaller flares and a significant coronal mass ejection. Predictions are that the storm will likely not impact Earth. Following the bright flare, one can see brilliant coils of magnetic field lines regrouping themselves. Images were taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in extreme ultraviolet light.
  • A coronal hole, the dark spot beginning just below the sun's center and extending to the right, is shown opening up in this image by NASA satellite STEREO. The NASA satellite SABER has detected a periodic "breathing" response in the Earth's upper atmosphere in response to never before observed regular coronal hole openings on the sun's surface. The coronal holes release high-powered solar winds that disturb the upper atmosphere of Earth and force it to emit energy to maintain the earth's radiation budget. Image credit: NASA/STEREO
  • Sunspot 1283 Bristling With Flares A third solar flare and coronal mass ejection has erupted from sunspot 1283. The third came on September 7 at 6:36 PM ET, and was categorized as an X1.8 by the GOES spacecraft, making it the second X-class flare within 24 hours, the prior being an X2.1 on Sept. 6, 2001 at 6:20 PM ET. Pictured here, leaping off the sun to the right is a giant plume of solar material – ionized gas called plasma – from sunspot 1283. This sunspot ejected three solar flares and three coronal mass ejections from September 5 to September 7, 2011. The picture here, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows light with a wavelength of 335 Angstroms. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • Prominence Eruption Produces M1.7 Class Flare The sun released a M1.7 class flare associated with a prominence eruption on April, 16, 2012. This image was taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 304 wavelength. This visually spectacular explosion occurred on the sun's Northeastern limb (left) and was not Earth directed. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA.
  • The Sun spits out an arch of hot gas called a prominence. Credit: NASA
  • Independence Day Fireworks This image shows four separate images of the M5.3 class flare from the morning of July 4, 2012. In clockwise order starting at the top left, the wavelengths shown are: 131, 94, 193, and 171 Angstroms. Each wavelength shows a different temperature of material, which in turn corresponds to different levels of the sun's atmosphere. By looking at images in several wavelengths, scientists can track how a solar eruption moves through the layers. Credit for the composite is: NASA/SDO/AIA/Helioviewer/TheSunToday
  • Valentines Day Flare 2011 The still image of the large X2 flare seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light on February 15, 2011, enlarged and superimposed on an image of SOHO's C2 coronagraph for the same period.
  • Boisterous Active Region -- Close Up An energetic active region spewed forth dozens of outbursts during just a 36-hour (Dec. 29-30, 2011) period as viewed in extreme ultraviolet light. The largest solar storm was a medium-sized flare and coronal mass ejection, each indicated by a signature brightest white flash (about half way through the video clip and shown in the still) followed immediately by a darker spout of plasma. Magnetic forces were violently pulling against each other, creating the frenetic activity. By pulling an image every two minutes, the level of detail we can observe is amazing.
  • Lotsa Loops As an active region rotated into view, SDO got a good profile look at the constantly changing magnetic field lines arcing high above it (Feb. 23-27, 2011). In extreme ultraviolet light the multitude of lines are revealed because charged particles are spinning along them. The interactions seen here are within an extensive and busy action region. If you watch the clip closely, you can see an eruptive blast (along with a strong flare) from the leading region near the beginning of the clip. These regions will be facing Earth beginning March 3, so for about the following week they could generate “space weather” effects.
  • Dark Fireworks This screen capture from the close-up view of the June 7, 2011 solar event shows the sunspot complex originating the flare and the coronal mass ejection plasma cloud falling back towards the sun, described as "Dark Fireworks". Credit: NASA/SDO
  • An image of the solar flare taken using the X-Ray Telescope onboard Hinode on June 7, 2007. This shows the flare loops in the solar atmopshere at temperatures exceeding 10 million degree Celsius. Courtesy of JAXA.
  • Large X-class Flare Erupts on the Sun On Jan. 27, 2012, a large X-class flare erupted from an active region near the solar west limb. X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events. Seen here is an image of the flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. This image shows an emission from plasma heated to greater than eight million degrees during the energy release process of the flare. Image Credit: JAXA/Hinode
  • Coronal loops observed by NASA’s Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft. Credit: NASA/TRACE
  • Solar Images Seen by SOHO Images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft: (Click on images for still)
  • Images from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft: (Click on images for high resolution version or view movie.) Very high resolution images also available (TIF): 1 | 2 | 3. Credit: NASA/LMSAL
  • Images from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft: (Click on images for high resolution version or view movie.) Very high resolution images also available (TIF): 1 | 2 | 3. Credit: NASA/LMSAL
  • 3-D view of the Sun made from two images taken by Soft X-ray Telescope on the Yohkoh satellite. Credit: NASA/ISAS/David Batchelor.
  • The closest view of a sunspot taken by the Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands. Credit: SST/Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  • Ring of Fire This new image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) shows in great detail a solar prominence taken from a March 30, 2010 eruption. The twisting motion of the material is the most noticeable feature. Launched on Feb. 11, 2010, SDO is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun. During its five-year mission, it will examine the sun's magnetic field and also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate. Since launch, engineers have been conducting testing and verification of the spacecraft’s components. Now fully operational, SDO will provide images with clarity 10 times better than high-definition television and will return more comprehensive science data faster than any other solar observing spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • NASA's SDO Captures 2012 Venus Transit Approach This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows Venus as it nears the disk of the sun on June 5, 2012. Venus's 2012 transit will be the last such event until 2117. Credit: NASA/SDO, AIA
  • NASA's TRACE satellite captured this image of Venus crossing the face of the sun as seen from Earth orbit. Credit: NASA
  • Transit of Venus A good portion of the world was watching as Venus glided in front of the Sun for over six hours (June 5 - 6, 2012). SDO implemented specially planned operations to view the event in great detail in many wavelengths of light. The results were the best HD views of a transit ever taken. The image shown was taken in the 171 Angstrom wavelength of extreme UV light showing Venus' path across the Sun. Numerous image and movie versions of the Venus transit as seen by all NASA solar imaging spacecraft can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/venus-transit-2012.html.
  • SDO Sees Transit Beginning The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) gets its first glimpse of Venus' approach to the Sun. The image taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on-board shows the Sun in the 171 wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. For more Venus Transit images, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/venus-transit-2012.html
  • SDO's High Def View of 2012 Venus Transit On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events: the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. This NASA image was captured on June 5, 2012. Image Credit: NASA/SDO, AIA
  • Transit 04.59.25 UT Close-up of Venus transiting across the face of the Sun. This image was taken June 6 at 04:59:25 UT by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 171 wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.
  • The Sun's Surface in 3D How smooth is the Sun? The new Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, deployed in the Canary Islands only last year, allows imaging of objects less than 100-km across on the Sun's surface. When pointed toward the Sun's edge, surface objects now begin to block each other, indicating true three-dimensional information. Close inspection of the image reveals much vertical information, including spectacular light-bridges rising nearly 500-km above the floor of sunspots near the top of the image. Also visible in the above false-color image are hundreds of bubbling granules, each about 1000-km across, and small bright regions known as faculas. Photo Credit: G. Scharmer (ISP, RSAS) et al., Lockheed-Martin Solar & Astrophysics Lab.
  • SDO Sees Spring Eclipse Not exactly a solar event: Twice a year, SDO enters an eclipse season where the spacecraft slips behind Earth for up to 72 minutes a day. Unlike the crisp shadow one sees on the sun during a lunar eclipse, Earth's shadow has a variegated edge due to its atmosphere, which blocks the sun light to different degrees depending on its density. Also, light from brighter spots on the sun may make it through, which is why some solar features extend low into Earth's shadow. Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO
  • Orange Sun Simmering Even a quiet Sun is a busy place. The above image, taken in a single color of light called Hydrogen Alpha, records a great amount of detail of the simmering surface of our parent star. The gradual darkening towards the Sun's edge, called limb darkening, is caused by increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas. Further over the edge, a giant prominence is visible, while a different prominence can be seen in silhouette as the dark streak near the image center. Two active areas of the Sun are marked by bright plages. The above amateur photograph of the Sun was taken just last month through a small telescope and a standard digital camera. In contrast, there are times when our Sun appears much more active. Photo Credit & Copyright: Ralph Encarnacion
  • Sun and Moon On Oct. 7, 2010, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, observed its first lunar transit when the new moon passed directly between the spacecraft (in its geosynchronous orbit) and the sun. With SDO watching the sun in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the dark moon created a partial eclipse of the sun. Image Credit: NASA
  • The Sun ejected a spectacular "eruptive prominence," a mass of relatively cool plasma, into space on Friday, March 12. The gas was relatively cool - only 60,000-80,000 Kelvin (110,000 - 145,000 degrees F) compared with the fiery 1.5 million degree K plasma (2.7 million F) surrounding it in the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona. At the time of this snapshot, the eruptive prominence was over 700,000 km (420,000 miles across), over 50 times the Earth's diameter. That's like measuring the length of 50 Earth's standing side-by-side! Even more, the plasma was moving at a rate of over 75,000 km per hour (50,000 mph). Eruptive prominences of this size are associated with coronal mass ejections (CME's), and the CME-prominence combination can deliver a powerful one-two punch to the earth's magnetosphere when directed toward Earth. In this case, the prominence and associated coronal mass ejection were directed away from the Earth and out into space. SOHO is a mission of international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It was launched on December 2, 1995 from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas IIAS launch vehicle.
  • SDO Captures X1.9 Class Solar Flare The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of the X1.9 class solar flare from November 3, 2011. Credit: NASA/SDO
  • Massive Flare Erupts From Sun The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured this image of a solar flare -- the third most powerful ever observed in X-ray wavelengths -- as it erupted from the sun early on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. The flare, in the lower center of the image, was preceded by a Coronal Mass Ejection, which blasted electrically charged gas toward the Earth, threatening to disrupt power grids and satellite operations. SOHO is a joint project being carried out by the European Space Agency and NASA. For more images and movies of the flare and the Coronal Mass Ejection, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Flare.html For more on SOHO, visit http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
  • Sunspot 1515 Release M6.1 Solar Flare Huge sunspot AR1515 has released another M-class flare this morning. At 7:39am EDT the active region released an M6.1 class flare which peaked five minutes later. This image, taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), is shown in the 304 Angstrom wavelength, which is typically colorized in red and focuses on Helium in the chromosphere and transition region of the sun. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
  • Profiled Blast An X1.6 flare (in the largest category) erupted (Jan. 27, 2012) along with a coronal mass ejection from the same active region that sent a cloud of particles towards Earth a few days earlier. Since the active region had rotated to the edge of the Sun, the eruption was observed nicely in profile. These images show a combination of two extreme ultraviolet imagers from SDO (AIA 171 (left) and AIA 131 (right)). The impact of high-energy particles can be seen more clearly from SOHO's coronagraph here: http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/03feb2012/ Earth experienced an S-1 radiation storm caused by the protons that must have originated in the northern latitudes but from an area that faced more towards Earth. The bright coils that emerge after the flare are called post coronal loops wherein the region's magnetic field is reorganizing itself.
  • An artist depicts the incredibly powerful flare that erupted from the red dwarf star EV Lacertae. Credit: Casey Reed/NASA
  • Water's Early Journey NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed a fledgling solar system, like the one depicted in this artist's concept, and discovered deep within it enough water vapor to fill the oceans on Earth five times. This water vapor starts out in the form of ice in a cloudy cocoon (not pictured) that surrounds the embryonic star, called NGC 1333-IRAS 4B (buried in center of image). Material from the cocoon, including ice, falls toward the center of the cloud. The ice then smacks down onto a dusty pre-planetary disk circling the stellar embryo (doughnut-shaped cloud) and vaporizes. Eventually, this water might make its way into developing planets. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech