April 14, 2009, STEREO Press Release

STEREO’s twin views reveal the inner workings of solar storms known as coronal mass ejections

SECCHI Telescopes view Solar Storm of December 12, 2008 (mp4 file 960x540)

The above images are narrow and wide angle views of the positions of the two STEREO spacecraft on Dec 13th 2008 00:00 GMT. It was around this time that the telescopes aboard the spacecraft captured a large solar storm heading toward the Earth. The solar storm, or coronal mass ejection (CME) was imaged by the SECCHI telescopes on both STEREO spacecraft. The series of images showing this CME were combined to show the motion of the CME starting at the Sun's surface and moving out away from the Sun and toward Earth. In the animation, the views of both STEREO spacecraft are presented. The images that make up the animation are synchronized in time, the view of the ahead (of the Earth) or STEREO A spacecraft is shown above, the view of the behind (the Earth) or STEREO B spacecraft is shown below. This is the first time that an Earth bound CME has been imaged in stereo, allowing scientists to model the shape, size and speed of the CME.