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Document Title: Coronal mass ejection (DI00004)
Description: This slide is the first in a series of false-color images showing the coronal mass ejection of 15 October 1986. In mass ejections, large masses of solar material escape from the sun's magnetic fields and contribute to the solar wind, which interacts with the earth's atmosphere and magnetic fields. This is a composite of several images. The inner portion of the corona was photographed by ground-based telescopes at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The outer area was photographed by a coronagraph aboard the orbiting Solar Maximum Mission satellite. The coronagraph contains an occulting disk which creates a false eclipse by blocking out the sun's bright surface. In this slide (at 2059 Universal Time), the ejection event is under way. The innermost ring shows an eruptive prominence observed in the light of the hydrogen-alpha line. The next ring shows the inner corona observed by the K-coronameter at Mauna Loa, and the outer area shows the yet-undisturbed outer corona.
Creditline: copyright University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Keywords: DI00004,solar,coronal mass ejection,sun,corona,coronagraph
Filename: DI00004.tif