                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2026 June 24

                    SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection
    Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA; Processing: Richard Petarius III (MTU)
         Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

   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.

                  Tomorrow's picture: anticrepuscular rays
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

