Astronomy: Coronal Mass Ejections

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Coronal Mass Ejections A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understanding of these relationships has not been established.

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Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)

Coronal Mass Ejections A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of pla sma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understanding of these relationships has not been established. If a CME enters interplanetary space, it is sometimes referred to as an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME).

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Why Coronal Mass Ejections matters: These foundational ideas and techniques are the tools astronomers use to measure, classify, and understand everything from nearby pl anets to the most distant galaxies. ICMEs are capable of reaching and colliding with Earth's magnetosphere, where they can cause geomagnetic storms, aurorae, and in rare cases damage to electrical power grids. The largest recorded geomagnetic perturbation, resulting presumably from a CME, was the solar storm of 1859. Also known as the Carrington Event, it disabled parts of the newly created United States telegraph network, starting fires and electrically shocking some telegraph operators. Near the time in the Sun's eleven-year solar cycle known as solar maxima, the Sun produces about three CMEs daily, whereas near solar minima, there is about one CME every five days.

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Deep dive: Coronal Mass Ejections The largest recorded geomagnetic perturbation, resulting presumably from a CME, w as the solar storm of 1859. Also known as the Carrington Event, it disabled parts of the newly created United States telegraph network, starting fires and electrically shocking some telegraph operators. Near the time in the Sun's eleven-year solar cycle known as solar maxima, the Sun produces about three CMEs daily, whereas near solar minima, there is about one CME every five days. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)