File:Coronal mass ejection.jpg

Summary

Coronal mass ejection.

Solar winds are comparable to daily breezes on Earth -mild and steady. Solar flares, however, are like intense storms. The solar flares are much more powerful than solar winds, but they are localized and tend to blast material in just one direction. Flares release a quick burst of energy equivalent to 10 million volcanic eruptions or more than a billion hydrogen bombs. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is the like a hurricane- an energetic storm spread over a large area. A CME is the eruption of a huge bubble of plasma from the corona. A CME usually travels between 400 km/s (1 million miles per hour) and 1000 km/s (2 million miles per hour). A typical eruption can carry a billion tons of plasma, a mass equal to that of 10,000 aircraft carriers. A CME is very directional, blasting material out in a fairly narrow jet that can expand to about 30 million miles.

Copyright status

This image is public domain because it was first published by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Source

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990923.html