Latest Coronal mass ejection Stories

NASA Given a legitimate need to protect Earth from the most intense forms of space weather -- great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the sun -- some people worry that a gigantic "killer solar flare" could hurl enough energy to destroy Earth, but this is not actually possible. Solar activity is indeed currently ramping up toward what is known as solar maximum, something that occurs approximately every 11 years. However, this same solar cycle...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online On Sunday (May 12) the Sun emitted a significant solar flare that is being classified as the first X-class event of 2013. The X1.7 flare, which peaked at about 10 p.m. EDT, was also associated with another solar event known as a coronal mass ejection (CME). While CMEs can release radiation and solar material in the direction they were produced, Sunday’s phenomenon was not directed at Earth. While solar flares also have the...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA has released a video of the unbroken coverage of the sun for the past three years, taken by its Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The spacecraft's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly snaps a shot of the sun every twelve seconds in ten different wavelengths. The latest video shows the past three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day. [ Watch the Video: Three Years With Solar Dynamics Observatory ] The video, released...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded a coronal mass ejection (CME) on Saturday April 20, 2013, at 2:54 a.m. EDT. That was only to be the first of three such events over the course of the weekend. CME’s, solar phenomena that send billions of tons of solar particles and radiation speeding through space at over 500 miles per second, have the potential to affect communication systems and electronics here and in orbit...

NASA The M6.5 flare on the morning of April 11, 2013, was also associated with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space and can reach Earth one to three days later. CMEs can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME began at 3:36 a.m. EDT on April 11, leaving the sun at over 600 miles per second. Earth-directed CMEs can cause a...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A powerful solar eruption occurred on the surface of the sun at 2:54 a.m. (EDT) this morning. The eruption, called a coronal mass ejection (CME), occurred on the Earth-facing side of the sun and may have released billions of tons of solar particles into space racing their way toward Earth, potentially making impact within three days. Once particles from this CME event hit Earth, electrical systems in orbit, in the sky and on...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Earlier this week the sun twice ejected large amounts of solar material during two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in a 12-hour period, according to a NASA report. The CMEs are not expected to significantly impact Earth. The first CME began at 8:36 p.m. EDT on March 12, 2013. The solar material was directed toward three NASA spacecraft, Spitzer, Kepler and Epoxi. Two of the crafts, Spitzer and Kepler, are in an Earth-like orbit around...

[Watch Video: Fiery Looping Rain On The Sun] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online An eruption on the sun can be a beautiful, monstrous event, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has helped to bring these dangerous, yet breathtaking events right to our computer screens. On July 19, 2012, the sun erupted in a solar flare, ejecting material called a coronal mass ejection (CME), creating a loop in the sun's atmosphere known as the corona. This moderately...

NASA On Feb. 9, 2013 at 2:30 a.m. EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, associated with a long duration C2.4-class flare. 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 500 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs. Historically, CMEs at this speed are usually benign....

NASA [ Watch The Video ] 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...