image: Late in the evening on June 20 the sun emitted a long lasting C7.7 class flare that peaked around 11:25 PM ET. A C-class flare is a relatively small flare. The flare was associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME) that bloomed off the sun at 11:09 PM ET (0412 UT). The movie shown above was captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Preliminary NASA modeling shows the CME to be moving in Earth's direction at 800 km/s. Geomagnetic effects and possible auroras on Earth should be moderate, appearing on June 23. Check back for additional media, which will be posted as it becomes available at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News062111-solstice-cme.html view more
Credit: Credit: NASA/SOHO Text: Karen C. Fox/Susan Hendrix NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center