This animation shows the iron charge state distribution, which has been measured once per hour during time the coronal mass ejection passed the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft.
Courtesy of the Solar and Heliospheric Group, University of Michigan.
More on Recent Coronal Mass Ejection
News story originally written on June 16, 1998
A
coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the
ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed by.
The picture here helps us analyze the CME material that passed by ACE. Put one finger near the number 4 on the picture. Put another finger on the number 16. Now everytime a white bar shows up above the number 4, that means that the CME material is cold. Everytime a white bar shows up above the number 16, that means the CME material is really hot!
So overall the movie shows us that the CME that passed ACE wasn't made up of material that is all the same temperature. This discovery could change what scientists know about CMEs and about how CMEs affect the Earth.
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