SOHO Pick of the Week: A Concentric CME Blossoms Out
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These images from LASCO C2 and C3 instruments on Dec. 2-3, 2001 give
an excellent view of a coronal mass ejection (CME) as it maintains
and enlarges its original shape as it expands outward. The C2 video
clip shows that this image is the second of two CMEs in rapid
succession which headed off to the right. CMEs are solar storms that
blast billions of tons of particles out from the Sun at over a
million kilometers per hour. The Sun, blocked by an occulting disk,
is represented by the white circle. The bright object passing below
the Sun is the planet Mercury.
