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Astronomy Picture of the Day - SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection
NASA ^ | 24 Jun, 2026 | Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA; Processing: Richard Petarius III (MTU) Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA

Posted on 06/24/2026 7:18:17 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Why does the Sun throw stuff at us? The Sun’s surface is a churning soup of energetic electrons and ions called plasma. The motion of those charged particles creates magnetic field loops that are larger than the Earth. These loops twist, turn, and trap plasma. The featured time-lapse, taken over 2 hours on April 24th, 2026 by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows what happens when those magnetic fields become too stressed: they snap and expel billions of tons (trillions of kilograms) of plasma into space at millions of miles (or kilometers) per hour in what is called a coronal mass ejection (CME). The Sun releases a few CMEs each day when it is at the peak of its activity cycle, which passed in 2025. Some of these eruptions hit Earth and can disrupt power grids, disable satellites, and endanger astronauts, which is why space weather monitoring is so important.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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Today's image is a short video at the source link.

1 posted on 06/24/2026 7:18:17 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

Today's image is a short video at the source link.

2 posted on 06/24/2026 7:19:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
The video is 22 Seconds long.

The featured time-lapse, taken over 2 hours on April 24th, 2026...............

3 posted on 06/24/2026 7:35:45 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: MtnClimber

Bet the Sun felt a little better after that.


4 posted on 06/24/2026 7:37:24 PM PDT by FreeperCell
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To: MtnClimber

That fusion stuff is not a cakewalk in the park to contain.


5 posted on 06/24/2026 7:51:20 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: MtnClimber
Just an incredible video clip. My white light Solar pictures can’t compare to that.

The amount of energy thrown off is mind boggling.

6 posted on 06/24/2026 7:59:25 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: MtnClimber

That sun is a hot mutha’


7 posted on 06/24/2026 8:58:45 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
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