10 Weeks until Eclipse 2017

Eclipse 2017 is 10 weeks away.

While the moon blocks the intense light from the sun, NASA will take advantage of the total solar eclipse to study solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.

While they’re both giant explosions, the two are different.

A flare can last minutes or hours and is visible from Earth as a bright spot about 8 minutes after the flare starts.

A solar eruption, or coronal mass ejection – CME – shoots a huge cloud of magnetic particles that can reach Earth’s atmosphere. The more pleasant part of CMEs is that they help create the aurora that we know as the Northern and Southern Lights.

Saying a CME is big is a massive understatement. Earth is about 8,000 miles in diameter. The sun is roughly 110 times larger in diameter than earth. It’s a breathtaking side-by-side contrast. The eruptions can be 30 times as wide as our planet. It’s easy to see how these eruptions can affect magnetic fields and communication signals here on Earth.

Click here to learn more about solar flares and CMEs. If you are still looking for eclipse safety glasses, you may find them at the Mizzou Store for $1.49 each.