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"NASA Captures Pics of Epic Coronal Mass Ejection\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNASA Captures Epic CME Eruption\n\nThe sun experienced a huge coronal mass ejection (CME) on Aug. 31, 2012, and NASA captured several images.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEpic CME, Full Sun View\n\nAlthough the CME didn't impact Earth, it affected the magnetosphere, creating an aurora on Sept. 3.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEpic CME, Overaly\n\nHere's an overlay of the CME imagery, using two different wavelengths of light.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFull Sun Overlay\n\nThe full sun pic as before, with the overaly.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCME in Ultraviolet\n\nNo, NASA wasn't playing with Photo Booth -- this is a quad shot at four different ultraviolet wavelengths.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nClose-Up\n\nAnother shot of the CME.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAurora Over Yukon\n\nHere's what the Aurora looked like over Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon territory the night of Sept. 3.\nImage courtesy of NASA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrom here on Earth, the Sun looks remarkably consistent, continuously bathing our planet in light and heat without much change from year to year, let alone day to day. In reality, it's anything but calm, as this incredible NASA photo of a coronal mass ejection (CME) shows.\nA CME is a huge burst of stellar material and magnetic fields from the surface of the sun \u2014 essentially what happens when the sun \"burps.\" They're often associated with solar flares, but they can happen separately, too.\n\nSEE ALSO: Satellite Captures Breathtaking Photo of Hurricane Isaac\nThis particular CME occurred on Aug. 31, 2012 at 4:36 p.m Eastern Time. At its fastest, the burst shot out into space at more than 900 miles per second. Although this particular CME didn't travel directly toward Earth (God help us if it did \u2014 a CME can be very destructive to things in orbit, like satellites), it did affect Earth's magnetosphere, creating an aurora that was visible last night, Sept. 3.\nNASA captured these spectacular images of the CME as well as the aurora, posting high-res versions on the Goddard Space Flight Center's Flickr feed. Let us know what you think of the pics in the comments.\nImages courtesy of NASA"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/09/04/nasa-epic-cme/>