Click on image for full size
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Solar Storm seen by SOHO
News story originally written on April 10, 1997

A satellite that studies the sun took pictures of a large solar eruption on Monday, April 7. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite took pictures of a large eruption that occurred on the Sun at 10:00am, Monday, April 7. The stuff that came out of the solar storm travelled through space and struck the Earth last night. It won't hurt the Earth in any way. The solar storm will cause the Northern lights to glow more brightly.

Lots of storms occur on the Sun, just like storms that occur on Earth. On the Sun, though, sometimes a storm will spew stuff out to space. It is just like a volcano here on Earth. The pressure of a volcano builds up until it can't hold its hot liquid rock any longer. So the volcano erupts. The sun works the same way.


You might also be interested in:

SOHO Mission Page

Do you know why your radio doesn't come in? Solar activity and solar wind, sometimes cause problems for us! Scientists are trying to figure out solar events. The SOHO mission is one way we are working...more

Tornadoes on the Sun!

There are so many exciting things happening in space these days! One new discovery is that there are storms on the Sun very similar to our own tornadoes! This discovery was made the spacecraft SOHO.SOHO...more

New weather satellite to be launched

The GOES-K satellite will be launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Station on April 24. The satellite will take images of the earth's weather. This lets weather forecasters make predictions. The GOES-K...more

Solar Storm seen by SOHO

A satellite that studies the sun took pictures of a large solar eruption on Monday, April 7. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite took pictures of a large eruption that occurred on...more

More than 100 planets orbit distant stars!

Astronomers have found another planet outside our solar system. That makes a total of 102 exoplanets that have been found so far! The astronomers that found the exoplanet, have been searching outside...more

Map of the Sky

Have you ever wanted to see a picture of a star? How about 2 million pictures?! The Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)has put together all these images of stars for you to see! Just click on the link below...more

The Equator is Growing!

Earth may look like a giant marble from space, but it is not exactly round! It is a little wider around the equator, like a tangerine. But Earth's shape does not stay the same! Scientists have been watching...more

Chlorine Found in Io Atmosphere Leads to Salt?

Scientists found a large amount of chlorine in Io's atmosphere! Io is one of Jupiter's moons. It has more chlorine than Earth. Chlorine is part of salt, so there may be salt on Io! Salt is a very important...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA