A solar prominence began to bow out and the broke apart in a graceful, floating style in a little less than four hours (Mar. 16, 2013). The sequence was captured in extreme ultraviolet light. A large cloud of the particles appeared to hover further out above the surface before it faded away.
Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA
Image Credit: NASA
The Mars Rover Curiosity hunkered down Wednesday after the sun unleashed the blast shown above toward the red planet.
The rover was designed to withstand extreme space weather, but scientists agreed to power it down as a precaution since it suffered a recent computer glitch.
“We’re being more careful,” said project manager Richard Cook of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which runs the $2.5 billion mission.
On March 5th, the ‘SOHO observatory’ noticed a huge flare that erupted from 
the suns far side hurling a stream of radiation in Mars’ direction. The solar burst also spawned a cloud of superheated gas that barreled toward the red planet at 2 million mph.
WATCH THE SOHO MOVIE AT THE LINK BELOW:
http://spaceweather.gmu.edu/seeds/mkmovie.php?cme=20130305.040006.w317.v0696.p365&frame=6&r
On July 19, 2012, an eruption occurred on the sun that produced a moderately powerful solar flare and a dazzling magnetic display known as coronal rain. Hot plasma in the corona cooled and condensed along strong magnetic fields in the region. Magnetic fields, are invisible, but the charged plasma is forced to move along the lines, showing up brightly in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 304 Angstroms, and outlining the fields as it slowly falls back to the solar surface.
Music: ‘Thunderbolt’ by Lars Leonhard, courtesy of artist.
This is an image of magnetic loops on the sun, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It has been processed to highlight the edges of each loop to make the structure more clear.
A series of loops such as this is known as a flux rope, and these lie at the heart of eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs.) This is the first time scientists were able to discern the timing of a flux rope’s formation. (Blended 131 Angstrom and 171 Angstrom images of July 19, 2012 flare and CME.)
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO
Each of the wavelengths observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was chosen to emphasize a specific aspect of the sun's surface or atmosphere. This image shows imagery both from the Advanced Imaging Assembly (AIA), which helps scientists observe how solar material moves around the sun's atmosphere, and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), which focuses on the movement and magnetic properties of the sun's surface. More details for each wavelength and links to real-time SDO imagery follows.Credit: NASA/SDO/GSFC
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) provides views of the Sun in detail never before possible. Launched on February 11, 2010, SDO provides ultra high-definition imagery of the Sun in 13 different wavelengths, utilizing two imaging instruments, the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). Each wavelength is based on one or two types of ions — though slightly longer and shorter wavelengths produced by other ions are also part of the picture. Each wavelength was chosen to highlight a particular part of the sun’s atmosphere, from the solar surface to the upper reaches of the sun’s corona.
For more technical information about which ions produce which wavelengths, click on each globe of SDO images to link down to the descriptions.
NOTE: If the real-time images below right appear black, the satellite data feed is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later.
HMI DopplergramDopplergrams provide maps of velocity on the sun’s surface. Solar Region: Photosphere
HMI MagnetogramMagnetograms show maps of the magnetic field on the sun’s surface, with black showing magnetic field lines pointing away from Earth, and white showing magnetic field lines coming toward Earth. Solar Region: Photosphere
HMI ContinuumContinuums provide photographs of the solar surface, incorporating a broad range of visible light. Solar Region: Photosphere
AIA 1700Ultraviolet light continuum, shows the surface of the sun. As well as a layer of the sun’s atmosphere called the chromosphere, which lies just above the photosphere and is where the temperature begins rising. Temperatures: 4500 Kelvin, Solar Region: Photosphere/Chromosphere
AIA 4500White light continuum showing the sun’s surface or photosphere. Temperatures: 6000 Kelvin, Solar Region: Photosphere
AIA 1600Emitted by carbon-4 (C IV) at around 10,000 Kelvin. C IV at these temperatures is present in the upper photosphere and what’s called the transition region, a region between the chromosphere and the upper most layer of the sun’s atmosphere called the corona. The transition region is where the temperature rapidly rises. SDO images of this wavelength are typically colorized in dark yellow. Solar Region: Upper Photosphere/Transition Region
AIA 304Emitted by helium-2 (He II) at around 50,000 Kelvin. This light is emitted from the chromosphere and transition region. SDO images of this wavelength are typically colorized in red. Solar Region: Transition Region/Chromasphere
AIA 171Emitted by iron-9 (Fe IX) at around 600,000 Kelvin. This wavelength shows the quiet corona and coronal loops, and is typically colorized in gold. Solar Region: Upper Transition Region/Quiet Corona
AIA 193Emitted by iron-12 (Fe XII) at 1,000,000 K and iron 24 (Fe XXIV) at 20,000,000 Kelvin. The former represents a slightly hotter region of the corona and the later represents the much hotter material of a solar flare. This wavelength is typically colorized in light brown. Solar Region: Corona/Flare Plasma
AIA 211Emitted by iron-14 (Fe XIV) at temperatures of 2,000,000 Kelvin. These images show hotter, magnetically active regions in the sun’s corona and are typically colorized in purple. Solar Region: Active Regions
AIA 335Emitted by iron-16 (Fe XVI) at temperatures of 2,500,000 Kelvin. These images also show hotter, magnetically active regions in the corona, and are typically colorized in blue. Solar Region: Active Regions
AIA 094Emitted by iron-18 (Fe XVIII) at temperatures of 6,000,000 Kelvin. Temperatures like this represent regions of the corona during a solar flare. The images are typically colorized in green. Solar Region: Flaring Regions
AIA 131Emitted by iron-20 (Fe XX) and iron-23 (Fe XXIII) at temperatures greater than 10,000,000 Kelvin, representing the material in flares. The images are typically colorized in teal. Solar Region: Flaring Regions