Today's Image

Coronal mass ejection and Venus on January 14

Posted by

and

January 16, 2014

Image credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO — Image via ESA/NASA/SOHO

The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory acquired this image on January 14, 2014. It shows a coronal mass ejection, or CME, erupting away from the sun, hurtling solar particles into space. The sun is obscured to make the dimmer solar atmosphere more visible. In the top right, you can see planet Venus.

Coronal mass ejections are powerful eruptions on the sun’s surface. Caused by instabilities in the sun’s magnetic field, they can launch a billion tons of superheated gas into space at over one million miles per hour. Here’s more: What is a coronal mass ejection or CME?

X Facebook Pinterest Buffer

Posted

January 16, 2014

in

Today's Image

Eleanor Imster

View Articles

About the Author:

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.