Aten sneezes!

SOHO captured this video clip of a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that blasted a substantial cloud of particles away from the Sun (Aug, 7, 2010). The majority of the cloud went to the left with only a smaller portion heading to the right, suggesting that it would not likely have any strong impact on Earth. A “halo” cloud is one that appears to surround the Sun on all sides as it expands, meaning it is heading somewhat towards Earth or away from it. The still and movie are generated by processing the changes from one frame to the next to highlight those changes, thus, we call this a “difference movie.” Check out movie here