Sun  ID: 11558

NASA's Many Views of a Massive CME

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.
 

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http://www.nasa.gov/goddard/mapping-the-journey-of-a-giant-coronal-mass-ejection/


Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Video Editor
Erin McKinley (OSU): Narrator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Writer
Karen Fox (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. However, individual items should be credited as indicated above.

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11558

Missions:
SDO
SOHO
STEREO

Data Used:
SOHO/Large Angle Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO)/C2 also referred to as: LASCO/C2
NASA and ESA
SOHO/Large Angle Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO)/C3 also referred to as: LASCO/C3
NASA and ESA
STEREO/Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)/304 Angstroms
SDO/AIA/304 Filter also referred to as: AIA 304
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER
SDO/AIA/211 Filter also referred to as: AIA 211
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER
SDO/AIA/171 Filter also referred to as: AIA 171
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER
SDO/AIA/131 Filter also referred to as: AIA 131
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER
STEREO-B/Extreme UltraViolet Imager/304 Angstroms also referred to as: EUVI
Observed Data
STEREO-B/Coronograph 2 also referred to as: COR2
Observed Data
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of these series:
Narrated Movies
The Carrington-Class CME of 2012

Goddard TV Tape:
G2014-078 -- NASA's Heliophysics Fleet Watches the July 2012 CME

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> SOHO
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Ultraviolet
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Coronagraph
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> STEREO
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Coronal Mass Ejections
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0