gallery - flowing from the Sun

Two SOHO-EIT ultraviolet movies at different stages in the Sun's activity cycle. They show the hot, million degree corona. The movie on the left shows the Sun near solar minimum in 1996 and the movie on the right shows the Sun near solar maximum in 1999.

X-ray movie of a coronal hole taken with Skylab in the 1970s. The coronal hole extends from the northern polar region down past the equator into the southern hemisphere of the Sun. Such large coronal holes are rare, but a similar one was observed by SOHO in 1996. It was called the Elephant's Trunk because that's what it looked like!

SOHO-LASCO movie from the Christmas period in 1996. Outflowing material can be seen escaping from the Sun. Streamer structure extending away from the solar limb from the equatorial regions can be seen. A number of coronal mass ejections can also be seen escaping from the Sun. A comet flies into the field of view before being captured by the Sun.

SOHO-LASCO movie of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) Background stars can also be seen in the field of view. Four planets can be seen crossing the image. Two of the planets cross behind the Sun and reappear on the other side. Because the planets are so bright, the image pixels in which they are observed are saturated causing the horizontal streak of brightness, which makes them look like UFOs!

SOHO-LASCO movie showing the motion and evolution of streamer structures. The constant outflow of solar material can be seen as well as a number of coronal mass ejections. A planet crosses the movie frame from the left to right beneath the Sun.

Coronagraph movie showing the variation of the corona over a 5-month period. The streamer structures that are seen vary considerably with their extent changing in time. At this stage in the solar variation cycle (solar minimum, 1995) the streamers extend all of the way around the solar disk. At solar maximum, the streamers are more confined to the equatorial regions.

SOHO-LASCO movie of a halo CME. A halo CME is a CME that is directed towards or away from the Earth. It is observed as a bright ring around the Sun. In this movie the energetic particles from the CME can be seen hitting the detector in the LASCO instrument and causing the snowstorm effect. Since SOHO is between the Sun and the Earth, we knew that this CME was heading straight for us.

SOHO-LASCO movie showing a CME, which is shaped like a light bulb.

The same light bulb CME but viewed with the C3 part of the LASCO coronagraph (which has a larger field of view).

SOHO-LASCO movie of a CME. The time given in the top left hand corner and the tick marks along the bottom of the movie frame can be used to calculate the velocity of the CME. Go on, give it a try!

As well as telling us lots about CMEs, SOHO-LASCO has observed over 1000 comets. In this movie taken in May 1996, comet Hyakutake flies into the frame. The direction of the comet's tail changes direction as it orbits the Sun. This is because the solar wind pushes the tail away from the Sun.

As well as comets that orbit the Sun, there are some that get a little too close and are captured. This SOHO-LASCO movie shows two comets, which fly too near to the Sun and are captured.

SOHO-LASCO movie covering 9 days over the Christmas period in 1996. LASCO also observes the stars in the milky way. They appear to be floating past the Sun, but actually SOHO is orbiting the Sun. In this movie, a comet is captured by the Sun, and there are also a number of coronal mass ejections.

Still Images