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CME Impacts Earth

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On April 3, 2010 the Sun launched a cloud of material, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), in the general direction of Earth. This CME was much faster than most of the CMEs seen recently, with a speed of at least 500 miles per second (800 kilometers per second). The video clip captures the expanding cloud over a three-day period. The bulk of the CME passed south of Earth, but a piece of it hit Earth's magnetosphere on April 5, causing a magnetic storm. As a result, bright aurora were seen around the world at higher latitudes. This movie from the Heliospheric Imager HI2 telescope on STEREO-Ahead captures the CME as it brushes Earth on its outward journey from the Sun and on into space.


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