Satellite view of a massive solar flare on the left side of the sun and an eruption of solar material shooting through the sun's atmosphere, called a prominence eruption June 20, 2013. Shortly thereafter, this same region of the sun sent a coronal mass ejection out into space. An Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME is 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.
Satellite view of a massive solar flare on the left side of the sun and an eruption of solar material shooting through the sun's atmosphere, called a prominence eruption June 20, 2013. Shortly thereafter, this same region of the sun sent a coronal mass ejection out into space. An Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME is 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.
Size: 4900px × 3584px
Location: sun's atmosphere
Photo credit: © NASA Photo / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: atmosphere, coronal, ejection, eme, eruption, horizontal, image, imager, mass, nasa, particles, phenomenon, satellite, space, star, sun
