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Coronal Mass Ejections from Sun Spots
Large flares are often associated with huge ejections of mass from the Sun, although the association is not clear. These coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are balloon-shaped bursts of solar wind rising above the solar corona, expanding as they climb. Solar plasma is heated to tens of millions of degrees, and electrons, protons, and heavy nuclei are accelerated to near the speed of light. The super-heated electrons from CMEs move along the magnetic field lines faster than the solar wind can flow. Rearrangement of the magnetic field, and solar flares may result in the formation of a shock that accelerates particles ahead of the CME loop. Each CME releases up to 100 billion kg (220 billion lb) of this material, and the speed of the ejection can reach 1000 km/second (2 million mph) in some flares. Solar flares and CMEs are currently the biggest "explosions" in our solar system, roughly approaching the power in ONE BILLION hydrogen bombs!
At about 10:00 UTC on October 28, 2003, a huge flare aimed a CME directly at Earth. A SOHO satellite captured this event in a movie . The end of the movie is speckled due to particles from the CME hitting the detector.
From October 17 to November 5, 2004 a large sunspot group 696 was associated with three CMEs directed at the earth. These "halloween storms" produced some spectacular aurora displays. A SOHO satellite captured these events in an EIT 195A movie .