Overview of Activity

Students will work in groups of 4 to 5 students to calculate the speed of a coronal mass ejection based on its position in a series of images from the SOHO satellite.

Grade Level

Grade 7 and up

Materials Needed

        SOHO CME Images (1 set per group)

        ruler, pencil and paper

        calculator

        tracing paper

Pre-requisite knowledge needed

Basic measuring skills are important in this activity.

Recommendations

        For the first part of this activity, allow each group to select its own feature. Each group does not need to choose a different feature, and it is useful if at least two groups make measurements on the same feature.

        Results will be best achieved if either the outer edge of the bright loop at the `top' of the CME, or the edge of the dark cavity `below' the bright edge, is chosen.SPAN

Useful Links

• LASCO Image Gallery
  • Movies and images of Coronal Mass Ejections from the LASCO instrument on the SOHO spacecraft.

• The HIgh Altitude Observatory Education page
  • A wealth of facts about the Sun and CMEs

• CME prediction page
  • Some of the interesting science which may point the way to predicting CMEs

• The Space Weather page
  • Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment