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SCIENCE
HIGHLIGHTS FROM NASA'S SUN-EARTH CONNECTION
A
Year of Solar Fluctuations and New Explorers
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2002
marked a period of surprises from our great star that should
have been quieting down after its high point of the solar
cycle of activity. Rather it was marked with flares and coronal
mass ejections, comet sightings, a peak sunspot count last
seen in 2000 and three new solar explorers.
Star
of the Show
Multi-mission
view of the sun
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In
this new view, images from 7 instruments on 3 separate satellites
are combined in one frame. With so many coordinated spacecraft
datasets and so many diverse assignments, this visualization
is striking in that it lines up the data to provide a radical
view of one solar event from sunspot to flare to the X-rays
pinpointed on that flare to the CME billowing out into space.
SUPER: NASA / ESA / LMSAL
Full-disk
View
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Millions
of miles away, CMEs from the Sun blast billions of tons of
plasma into our magnetosphere with the potential to disturb
space systems, power grids and communications.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Amazing
Changing Sun
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Solar
maximum is the 2-3 year peak period (2000-2001 marked the
peak of this cycle) when activity is most complex and turbulent,
and the space around Earth is most disturbed.
SUPER: NASA/ESA
Fountains
of Fire
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Close-up
images reveal an active surface with coronal loops emerging
and disappearing all over the Sun's surface and can span a
length of about 250,000 miles, or about 30 times the diameter
of Earth.
SUPER: NASA / LMSAL
Sunspots
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Sunspots
appear dark because they are cooler than the solar surface
and can last for weeks and can be as large as 80,000 km (over
6 planet Earths).
SUPER: NASA / ESA
How
Do Active Regions Form?
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Peering
beneath the surface of AR 9393 revealed regions comprised
of many small magnetic structures that rise quickly from deep
within the Sun.
SUPER: NASA
Breaking
News
What
is a CME?
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The
largest explosions in the solar system, CMEs launch up to
10 billion tons of ionized gas into space at speeds of one
to two million miles an hour.
SUPER: NASA
Solar
Fireworks
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A
group of sunspots measuring 15 Earths across produced some
major solar activity the week of July 15 in the form of X-class
flares, the most powerful designation.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Spotting
the Solar Fireworks
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Sunspot
group 'AR 30' (for "Active Region") located near
the middle of the Sun had been producing flares and other
solar events since July 12; here they stretch 15 Earth-diameters
from end-to-end.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
A
Solar Grand Slam
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As
Tiger Woods attempted a golf grand slam in July, the Sun delivered
a show of its own with four powerful X-class flares in just
eight days.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
The
First 'Keyhole' CME
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"We've
observed thousands of CMEs, but none ever looked like this
one," said one scientist. A CME in October appeared to
have a keyhole in the center of the explosion.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
A
'Corkscrew' CME
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This
remarkable October CME vaguely resembles a corkscrew with
twisted lines bursting from the Sun.
SUPER:
NASA / ESA
A
Prominent Prominence
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Prominences
occur when dense plasma at the solar surface becomes trapped
in magnetic fields that are propelled high into the corona,
or outer atmosphere of the Sun.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Spectacular
Solar Loop
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This
prominence was large enough to encompass 40 Earths and likely
reached about 107,000 degrees F, considerably cooler than
the Sun's atmosphere of 1 million degrees.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Solar
Comet Hunter
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The
SOHO spacecraft spotted its 500th comet on August 12, making
it the most prolific comet hunter in history only six years
after its launch.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Dial-Up
Comet Spotting
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In
April 2002, an amateur astronomer in China discovered his
14th comet via real-time images of the Sun on the Internet
in time for National Astronomy Day.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Other
Comet Discoveries
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In
January, Comet Machholz passed by the Sun at the same time
a CME erupted on the opposite side, all captured by SOHO.
Venus is also visible in the lower right.
SUPER: NASA / ESA
Alternate
View of An Eclipse
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The
December 4, 2002 total eclipse was the last of the year. It
is shown here in an image of the Sun from SOHO superimposed
on a photograph of the eclipse.
SUPER: NASA / ESA / Jay Pasachoff / Williams College Eclipse
Expedition
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